When Carl Jenkinson joined Arsenal from Charlton in 2011, not much was expected from him but the fans hoped that he’d be a good understudy to Bacary Sagna as Emmanuel Eboue moved on to Turkey. His Premier League debut came in the 8-2 demolition at Old Trafford and he even had a red card for his troubles but when Sagna suffered some long-term injuries, Jenkinson got an extended run out and proved himself to be a worthy deputy.
With Sagna’s future in doubt amid whispers of the Frenchman making a move to Manchester City after his contract expired, Jenkinson relished making the first team berth his to keep but Arsenal replaced Sagna with his compatriot, Matt Debuchy and shortly afterwards, the Gunners signed a young prospect in Calum Chambers, a versatile lad that is tipped for great things at the Emirates.
Many believed that Jenkinson’s place was under threat as Chambers was adept in the right back position and many feared for the worst when Hull City made a bid for the lad. However, Arsene Wenger, in his infinite wisdom, made a decision to send Jenkinson on loan to West Ham, a move that was been lauded by the Arsenal faithful.
It’s fair to say that Jenkinson had a successful loan spell with the Hammers. After seeing off the threat of Guy Demel, Jenkinson became a mainstay in the team. The table below gives a complete breakdown of Jenkinson’s performances for West Ham.
| Premier League only* |
Jenkinson |
| Appearances (subs) |
29 (3) |
| Tackles made (Successful) |
60 (26) |
| Interceptions made |
35 |
| Fouls committed (Suffered) |
24 (10) |
| Clearances Made |
130 |
| Blocked Shots |
12 |
| Headed Duels (Won) |
55 (22) |
| Defensive Errors (Led to Goal) |
2 (1) |
| Pass Completion percentage |
78.4% |
| Passes (Successful) |
863 (677) |
| Key Passes (Assists) |
20 (2) |
| Bookings (Yellow/Red) |
(2/0) |
With Matt Debuchy hoping that his injury problems are now behind him as well as Hector Bellerin’s breakthrough campaign, Jenkinson was going to face a real battle in his hands to stake a claim for a first-team berth but it seems as if he’d have to wait a bit to play for the Gunners again, as the Mirror reports that Sunderland has reached an agreement with Arsenal to secure his services on loan.
With Sunderland retaining their Premier League status last season following a rather tumultuous campaign, the club is hoping to begin the new season on a positive note, and Dick Advocaat is set to make Carl Jenkinson his second addition to the club after Oscar Krusnell that’s set to join from AIK.
So it’s evident that Wenger prefers to see Jenkinson continue his football education elsewhere, rather than fighting for his place in the team next season. Bellerin has a revelation last season and the manager would be keen on seeing the Spaniard improving his game this season. While he proved that he could be a good threat going forward, he had a couple of suspect moments defensively.
Jenkinson will enjoy first team action at Sunderland and I wish him all the best there.
Sayonara.
You can download the Gooner Daily BlackBerry App to receive notifications on your Smart Phone when a post is published.
You can follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily. I’ll follow back
Feel free to visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page and click on the like button.
You can also join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List to get notifications of new posts by email by clicking on the Follow button
Leave a Reply