What has happened to Campbell?

After young Costa Rican international striker Joel Campbell signed for the Gunners on the 19^th August, there were many believing that he could develop into a lethal striker. However, after failing to obtain a work permit, the youngster was sent out on loan to FC Lorient along with another promising forward, Gilles Sunu. With Lorient’s willingness to help develop promising young players it seemed like a no brainer to send the Costa Rican to France. But how is he fairing?

The young striker has been predominantly used a substitute since his move to France, but with his blistering pace he is an effective one at that. Campbell appears to have an unselfish approach not usually common amongst strikers, and whilst he clearly has a footballing brain, always looking to move the ball into space, his final pass is sometimes lacking. But that is to be expected from a teenager.

He scored his first goal for FC Lorient from close range against Valenciennes after getting on the end of a Kevin Monnet-Paquet cross. In a 10-minute cameo against Sochaux, he also provided a chipped through ball for his team mate to finish.

Another goal in the Coupe de la Ligue match against Montpellier, leaves him with a rather modest tally of 2 goals from 9 appearances, however, Joel has showed signs that when given the chance (his first goal coincided with his first start for Lorient) he can be a useful asset to the team, and who’s to say that in a few years Arsenal won’t have that “fox-in-the-box” finisher that they’ve been pinning for.

WTTGT Writer: Matt Mace