Miguel Azeez is back at Arsenal and Mikel Arteta can once again press ahead with his plans for the wonderkid.
The 19-year-old returned to the Gunners last month after his loan spell with Portsmouth was terminated earlier than expected and a decision regarding where the midfielder would spend the rest of the season was to be made before the January transfer window closed.
"It's a possibility we are going to explore now when we have some normality after the Burnley game – where we have a break, and the transfer window starts to shut – what the best options are for these individuals," Arteta said of Azeez and Tyreece John-Jules when asked if they could both depart on loan again.
Whilst the latter sealed a move to Sheffield Wednesday, Azeez has stayed put and was involved in a first-team training session ahead of the 1-0 win over Wolves on Thursday.
This is rather interesting as it may hint at another u-turn from the Arsenal manager.
As previously reported by football.london , Azeez had been expected to play more of a role in the first-team this season but it was understood thought that Gunners will look to recruit externally as well.
Despite links to the likes of Yves Bissouma, Sander Berge, Manuel Locatelli and Arthur in the two transfer windows this season, only Albert Sambi Lokonga has been signed to bolster Arsenal's central midfield options, whilst Lucas Torreira, Joe Willock, Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos have all departed.
As a result, this appeared to have created a pathway for Azeez, who was included in a Premier League squad for the game against Sheffield United and in several of the matchday squads for knockout games in the Europa League last season.
Furthermore, football.london reported after the behind closed doors friendly against Watford back in August that it was unlikely that he would be leaving on loan.
Of course, plans changed and Azeez joined Portsmouth ahead of transfer deadline day in the summer and made just six league appearances before returning to his parent club in January.
Arteta has since explained the reason to recall Azeez and John-Jules were for different reasons but the plan was to discuss what is best for both players going forward.
So given that the striker will continue his development in League One, has a decision been made for Azeez to potentially make a breakthrough at Arsenal between now and the end of the season?
If this is the case, it will be the second u-turn Arteta has performed on the teenager this season having changed his mind about sending the midfielder out on loan with the initial plan to keep him around the first-team squad.
Judging by the 19-year-old's most recent Instagram post, he is certainly happy to be back and it is clear by his inclusions in matchday squads last season that he is highly rated by Arteta.
However, with the Gunners only competing in the Premier League until May he could find opportunities hard to come by and it may be more appearances for the U23's after impressing in the 3-1 win over Chelsea earlier in the month.
With that said, Azeez doesn't lack self-confidence and amid talk of Arsenal making a move for Youri Tielemans in the summer, he just might save the club millions of pounds if given a chance.
"I would love to be the best football player in the world," he told Guillem Balague in an interview. "I have the attributes, I have the work rate so it's up to me to keep working hard.
"I never doubt myself because if you have doubts it's hard to reach your top potential."
In addition, should Granit Xhaka leave this summer amid renewed links to AS Roma, Arteta may already have the perfect replacement in Azeez.
