Should Arsenal keep or sell their loan players this summer?

Whether the purpose of the deal was to help youngsters hone their craft or give fringe players opportunities for game time that they would not have enjoyed in North London, a handful of them will no doubt return to the capital better off for their temporary move away.

However, others have done little to convince Arteta that their long-term future lies within the Emirates walls, and with as much as £200m potentially being splashed in a record summer spending spree, cuts are inevitable.

With Pablo Mari and Ainsley Maitland-Niles already confirmed to be moving on, Sports Mole takes a closer look at how Arsenal's other eight senior loanees performed in 2022-23 and whether the club should sell, keep or assess them in pre-season.

Nicolas Pepe

Having failed to keep pace with the emerging Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal's club-record signing Nicolas Pepe tried to reignite his career in the league where he first burst onto the scene, joining Ligue 1 side Nice on a season-long loan.

The 28-year-old initially showed signs of his old self at the Allianz Riviera, scoring six goals in his first 15 Ligue 1 matches and also helping Nice reach the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League, but he sat out 16 of the Aiglons' last 19 top-flight games through injury.

It was not too long ago that Arteta hoped to see a "different" Pepe upon his return from a successful 2022 Africa Cup of Nations campaign, but his £72m signing will go down as a major blot on the notebook, and Arsenal must try to recoup a small portion of that fee before his deal expires in 2024.

Verdict: Sell

Albert Sambi Lokonga

Despite a personal recommendation from Vincent Kompany and a bright first pre-season in Arsenal colours, Albert Sambi Lokonga has since failed to grasp many of the opportunities that have been gifted to him by Arteta.

The Belgian was facing a big ask to break up the effective Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka pairing either way, and his six-month loan spell at Crystal Palace initially started positively, with five successive starts under Patrick Vieira before the Frenchman's sacking.

However, Roy Hodgson did not share Vieira's opinion of the midfielder, and Lokonga started just one more game for the Eagles under the veteran Englishman, while failing to come off the bench in their final five Premier League affairs.

At 23, though, there is still a lot of room for growth in Lokonga's game, and with Arsenal's ageing midfield evidently needing a rejig, giving the Belgium international one final chance to prove himself this summer may not be the worst idea.

Verdict: Assess in pre-season

Nuno Tavares

With the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko pushing him down the pecking order, explosive left-back Nuno Tavares became the latest Gunners man to swap the Emirates for the Orange Velodrome, as he joined the Marseille ranks for the 2022-23 season.

Being deployed in his favoured wing-back role, the Portuguese made headlines for the right reasons with three goals in his first four Ligue 1 appearances, but he was soon in the spotlight for the wrong reasons amid alleged attitude concerns, which saw him dropped from Igor Tudor's squad on more than one occasion.

Arteta has shown a ruthless approach when it comes to such matters, but the Spaniard is in need of players with Champions League experience for next season, and Tavares played every minute of Marseille's short-lived run in Europe's premier tournament last season.

With Kieran Tierney and Xhaka - who has often filled in on the left - also heading for the exit door, Arsenal will be short of options on that side without any summer additions, so Tavares may still have a future in North London if he can reverse a worrying trend of off-field controversies.

Verdict: Assess in pre-season

Marquinhos

Following in Martinelli's footsteps as a young boy from Brazil to make the switch to North London, Marquinhos let emotion take over during a fine debut for Arsenal in the Europa League, scoring and assisting in a 2-1 win over FC Zurich.

The 20-year-old unsurprisingly failed to build on that dream start, though, and it was a near-identical story during his six-month loan spell with Norwich City, where he scored and assisted on his debut against Cardiff City before going another 10 games without a direct contribution.

Nevertheless, Marquinhos enjoyed a positive Under-20 World Cup campaign on a personal level, scoring one goal and setting up two more for Brazil, who suffered a shock quarter-final exit at the hands of Israel.

Marquinhos may not have hit the ground running in the same manner that Martinelli did, and a full-season loan may help his cause next season, but there should be no consideration given to a permanent departure.

Verdict: Keep

Cedric Soares

Despite holding the fort well on the left-hand side during the final stages of the 2021-22 season, Cedric Soares was never expected to challenge for a regular starting role and made the short trek across London to join Fulham on loan in January.

However, the form of Kenny Tete meant that the Portuguese international was given just 286 minutes of football in a Fulham jersey, starting two Premier League matches and one in the EFL Cup.

Cedric's contract with the Gunners has a little over 12 months left to run, and the right-back is supposedly keen to stay and fight for his place under Arteta, who is thought to value his experience highly.

Takehiro Tomiyasu's injury problems are well-documented, but if the Gunners can reinforce their right-back ranks with one of Ivan Fresneda or Devyne Rensch, there is little reason for Cedric to keep taking up space on the wage bill.

Verdict: Sell

Folarin Balogun

Folarin Balogun ending the season with 21 Ligue 1 goals for Reims will go down as one of the unlikeliest success stories of the season, especially given his underwhelming stint at Middlesbrough and struggles to adapt to the demands of Arsenal's first team.

However, a magnificent campaign under the tutelage of Oscar Garcia and Will Still means that the 21-year-old's stock is the highest it has ever been, and he is believed to have attracted suitors from all across Europe.

It would certainly be interesting to see how Balogun would fare in this Arsenal XI now, but his path to the first team is still blocked by Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah, the latter of whom should not be cut from the ranks just one year after agreeing a new lucrative contract.

A serious bidding war could soon ensue between clubs in Italy, France and Germany for Balogun, and should an interested party present the Gunners with a package totalling at least £40m, they should not stand in the soon-to-be USA international's way of an exit.

Verdict: Sell

Auston Trusty

The January 2022 transfer window was a memorably painful one for Arsenal supporters, many of whom expected to be welcoming Dusan Vlahovic to the Emirates before the Gunners ended up with just the one arrival in the form of Auston Trusty from Colorado Rapids.

Furthermore, the USA international's capture was primarily to help build connections with American franchises, and he was loaned to Birmingham City in 2022-23 with the aim of helping him engineer a permanent move to another European club in the summer.

However, Trusty exceeded expectations in the Championship, scoring four goals and setting up two more in 44 starts, being named Player of the Season by Blues fans and earning his first senior cap for the USA in the process.

While reports have suggested that the 24-year-old is expected to be on the move again this summer, Arteta could do a lot worse than integrate Trusty into the first team over the coming weeks, especially with Rob Holding flattering to deceive in William Saliba's enforced absence during the business end of the season.

Verdict: Assess in pre-season

Alex Runarsson

Sometimes, you get what you pay for in football, and Arsenal chiefs learned the hard way about forking out a mere £1.7m to sign Icelandic goalkeeper Alex Runarsson to replace FA Cup hero Emiliano Martinez in 2020.

Despite featuring regularly in the Europa League and keeping three clean sheets in six games during his debut season, it quickly became clear that Runarsson was not at the required level for Arsenal, and he spent the 2022-23 season with Turkish side Alanyaspor after a stint in Belgium with OH Leuven in 2021-22.

The 28-year-old immediately became Alanyaspor's first-choice goalkeeper, keeping four clean sheets in 30 games as his side avoided relegation to the second tier with a 15th-placed finish.

Whether Alanyaspor plan to move for Runarsson permanently is unclear, but having earned the trust of the Turkish Super Lig side, an exit from Arsenal would no doubt be best for all parties, and he should be one of the first names on the chopping block.

Verdict: Sell