Arsenal Players Available For Loan?...Derby Suspen

Telegraph/Glenn Moore
Want a loan? Then get on the phone to Wenger
Arsenal are keen to lend youngsters to other teams but it is a risk for the players

When Arsène Wenger arrives at Arsenal's London Colney base this morning he can expect to find a long list of sticky notes on his desk detailing the managers who have called. The messages will be identical: "Can I borrow one of your players?"

Arsenal's Carling Cup quarter-final defeat at Burnley this month may have been a disappointment for Wenger but managers across the country will have noted it with alacrity. Wenger treats the competition as a proving ground for his young players and the club's exit means he will have to look for other options to test them. Some had a further opportunity in last night's dead Champions League rubber in Portugal but that will be it as Wenger – aware that Arsenal have gone three seasons without a trophy – has indicated he intends to play a "normal" team in the FA Cup.

"Will the Carling Cup team play in the FA Cup?" he asked recently. "Not at the moment. I am planning to play a normal team. Some of the youngsters will go out on loan to continue their education." Wenger has long been a fan of loaning players out – there are nine out already this season – believing it hastens their maturity.

As Neil Banfield, Arsenal's reserve team coach, has said. "It is great for the club. They get first-team experience at the sharp end. They're playing with senior pros and that is the bit that you can't get on the training ground. It is a big part of their learning development to get out there and actually play. It matures them, the players come back men and it is really the final part of their progression."

This is nothing new. When he was at West Ham Harry Redknapp sent Jermain Defoe and Rio Ferdinand to Bournemouth and Frank Lampard to Swansea where they learnt to wash their own kit and appreciate how lucky they were at Upton Park. David Beckham had a spell at Preston and one of Chelsea's current loanees, Michael Mancienne, now at Wolves, was called up by Fabio Capello last month.

Such players are in demand because they are taught good habits, and in Arsenal's case, they also have the advantage of some senior exposure in the Carling Cup. Thus the calls this morning.

Steve Bruce is likely to be among those on the phone. After Saturday's match at the Emirates the Wigan manager said, in reference to the trio of players he hired when Birmingham manager (Fabrice Muamba, Nicklas Bendtner and Sebastian Larsson). "I've cadged off him in the past. I nicked three off him at Birmingham. They were my best players and got me promoted. Maybe we could get Adebayor, Van Persie..." That is improbable, but Bruce could land the likes of Jay Simpson, Gavin Hoyte and Kieran Gibbs. Tony Adams, who already has Armand Traoré, could also be in touch especially with Portsmouth looking to reduce their staff in the transfer window.

Other players who could be loaned out are Fran Mérida and Amaury Bischoff, who could do with greater experience of the English game, Mark Randall, who had a spell at Burnley last year, and Paul Rogers who nearly went on loan to Nottingham Forest this season. Carlos Vela is a possibility if it appears that Eduardo looks like being able to play in the latter part of the season, and maybe Henri Lansbury. Staying at Arsenal, despite their tender years, will be Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey who are regarded as part of the first team squad.

However, while several Arsenal players have benefited from being loaned out, from Ashley Cole (who went to Crystal Palace in 1999-2000, playing 14 games) to Bendtner and Alex Song, for many exile is the beginning of the end. David Bentley, Steve Sidwell, Jérémie Aliadière, Muamba and Justin Hoyte are all Premier League players but their loan spells precipitated transfers away from Arsenal. Others, like Matthew Connolly, are in the Championship or, like Joe O'Cearuill, no longer in the English game. Of the 12 Arsenal players loaned out in 2006-07 only Bendtner and Song have since played a league match for the club, seven have left. Of last year's eight loanees only Johan Djourou has since started in the League.

So leaving the Emirates is a risk as well as an opportunity. Not everyone adapts to finding themselves among players whose approach can be very different to the Wenger way.

Spreading their wings

Wenger's youngsters

*Arsenal's potential loanees:

Amaury Bischoff (Midfielder, aged 21)

Kieran Gibbs (Left-back or midfielder, 19)

Gavin Hoyte (Defender, 18)

Henri Lansbury (Midfielder, 18)

Fran Merida (Midfielder, 18)

Mark Randall (Midfielder, 19)

Paul Rogers (Defender, 19)

Jay Simpson (Attacking wide midfielder, 20)

Carlos Vela (Striker, 19)