Every season a number of Arsenal players go out on loan to gain valuable first-team experience and the 2010/11 campaign was no different.
Arsenal.com have tracked the progress of the loanees throughout the season and our ‘Loan Review’ series will examine each player in turn. Today we focus on Aaron Ramsey, Luke Freeman, Thomas Cruise and Gavin Hoyte.
Aaron Ramsey
Aaron joined Championship side Nottingham Forest in November to make a long-awaited comeback from his broken leg.
His time at the City Ground was hampered by adverse weather that forced the postponement of a number of games. He made five appearances for Billy Davies’ side before returning to Arsenal at the start of January.
The Wales midfielder then joined Cardiff City on a one-month loan in order to improve his match sharpness and fitness, making seven appearances prior to his return to the Club in February.
Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies speaking in January
"Aaron has been a pleasure to have about the place," he told Forest’s official club website. "From working with him on a daily basis it's clear to see he has a wonderful future ahead of him.
"He has been not only a credit to himself in the time that he's been with us, but also a credit to Arsenal.”
Luke Freeman
Luke joined Yeovil on a six-month loan deal in July and started life in the South-West superbly, scoring on his debut in a 2-1 win over Leyton Orient.
But injuries hampered his spell at Huish Park and restricted the young striker to 14 appearances, where he scored twice.
With Yeovil caught up in a relegation scrap he admitted he learned how to play another side to the game, something which was invaluable to his development.
“It was unlucky, I’ve never had an injury in my life and I was there for five months and ended up getting four injuries,” he told Arsenal.com in February. “It was a bit of a frustrating time [but] I did well when I played and scored a few goals.
“I learned how to play that side of the game, it’s not always about playing ‘the Arsenal way’.
“People will play specifically just to win that game, it’s nothing personal if you aren’t playing in that game. It’s just they might have someone who might be a dangerman and they want to put someone bigger and stronger up against him.”
Thomas Cruise
Thomas moved to League One side Carlisle United on a one-month loan deal at the start of September that, following his impressive form in six appearances, was extended until January.
The young defender struggled for opportunities in Greg Abbott’s side and returned to Arsenal when the deal ended.
Gavin Hoyte
Gavin joined Lincoln on a one-month deal in October before extending his stay for a further two months and played an active role for the League Two outfit.
The defender remained an ever-present in Steve Tilson’s side, making nine consecutive appearances, before having his second spell with the Imps cut short by a hamstring injury.
The deal was again extended, this time until the end of the season, and he impressed at Sincil Bank before injury ended his season prematurely.
Copyright 2013 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source 24 May 2011
