The Future For Toral

Gary Rowett dabbled in the loan market very effectively when he brought in Jon Toral from Arsenal this summer. He came as a promising teenager and under the tutorial of the staff here at Birmingham City, he is certainly putting in some good performances.

But, will this just be the same as Tom Thorpe? Comes and does well for the club, only to leave at the end of the loan spell and not get game time at the big club in which he came from.

Young players who develop at big Premier League clubs often come to lower leagues for game time and experience at playing at a level that is unquestionably better than that of the reserve league. But the fact that these players just go back to their parent club after a year or however long their loan spell is, leaves both clubs short changed.

Losing Toral at the end of his loan contract will be a blow as he has done really well linking up with Donaldson and I believe that he has been very influential in most attacks that happen when he is on the field. But then when he goes back to Arsenal, they’ll pay his wages for him to just train and be on the outskirts of the club. (Probably!)

The transition for young footballers is hard for big clubs as they often just buy in a short term replacement rather than looking at the ranks in which they hold. This is seen as a demise in the English national team.

But here is a solution. Why not take players on loan but for 3 years or so. This can mean that a thorough assessment of the payer by the parent club can be undertaken but also the player can pledge a commitment to his new club to stay with them and really get to know the set up and players.

It would mean that more young players would be loaned out and therefore they would get more experience and game time which would mean that they are better all round. It seems like a simple solution in order to bridge the gap between youth and the first team.

So why not loan Toral for 3 years? Let him settle in and be an integral part of the team at Birmingham City. Before after 3 years, Arsenal deciding whether they think he is good enough to play for them. It seems fool proof, but I know you readers will put me in my place if I am wrong!