The next step

When Michelle Agyemang was loaned to Watford for the 2023-24 season, I recall thinking that a team set to struggle for Championship survival might not be the best match for her obvious ability. Agyemang had already scored her first Arsenal goal by then (albeit against third tier Leeds United in the FA Cup) and had been a regular feature in the Gunners match day squad following injuries to Mead, Miedema and Hurtig (Foord missed a good chunk of April 2023 with a hamstring injury too).

Last May, Arseblog News asked Eidevall about Agyemang’s performances in the European U17 Championships. ‘It doesn’t surprise me. She has a technical and tactical level but also a physical level in her game that is just as good on the senior level. So, of course, when you see her in the U-17 level, she will really outmatch some of her opponents.”

When Arseblog News asked Eidevall about Agyemang’s loan to Watford, alongside her fellow academy graduates Katie Reid and Laila Harbert, the Arsenal manager admitted there was an element of geographical expediency to loaning the players to Watford, whose training ground sits on the same plot of land as Arsenal’s. The players were 17 years old and still at school and enabling them to stay at home gave Watford the upper hand in taking them on loan.

In Agyemang’s case, I think, with all due respect, Watford was probably below her level, even if the move did ensure she would always start when fit. The latter point seemed to be a bone of contention for Eidevall when I asked him about the next step for the player last week.

‘Last season you can still see huge development in her playing. But she has been plagued by a lot of small to medium injuries which has really affected her game time at Watford. I think we really need to have a good look at where we provide an environment where she can remain injury free and is able to train and play a lot.’

Without saying it in as many words, Eidevall hinted that treatment and fitness facilities at Watford perhaps hampered her condition. Four goals and two assists for the bottom club in nine appearances is a very respectable total for a player who turned 18 in February. She also scored away at Arsenal in the FA Cup for Watford.

Where she goes next will be fascinating. If it’s to be a Championship loan, it would surely be with a team with designs on promotion. However, there are potential options for a WSL loan. Newly promoted Crystal Palace have just lost Championship top scorer Elise Hughes to an ACL injury and will want a replacement striker.

As a club, Everton continue to experience financial issues and their women’s team has proved very willing to take players on loan from the top clubs in recent seasons. Aggie Beever-Jones and Jess Park spent 2022-23 at Walton Hall Park and both have been integral players in this season’s title race at Chelsea and Manchester City respectively.

Kathrine Kuhl is currently on loan at Everton’s whose coach Brian Sorensen is on good terms with Jonas Eidevall. When I asked Eidevall about Kuhl joining Everton in January, he said, ‘The style of play they have will suit her in possession a lot.

‘Her number one thing to work on and develop will be decision making and in order to do so you need to be on the ball and she can be an important part of what they are trying to build.’ Everton’s passing style is much closer to Arsenal’s than most teams you typically find towards the bottom end of the table.

In truth, the same is true of Watford, who also play a patient passing style which really suited deeper players like Laila Harbert and Katie Reid. There is a risk in sending a player on loan to a club ranked below you who play a very different, far more reactive style where the striker sees very little of the ball and isn’t asked to connect play and counter more organised defences.

Everton are not currently cash rich and are the joint lowest scorers in the WSL with just 20 goals in their 21 league games, they may well be tempted by a loan move for Agyemang. Having just turned 18, there is no rush. Agyemang could conceivably have two season long loan spells away from the club and still very much return as a young player. But the next move will be fascinating to see, both for the choice she and the club make and how she progresses because it is clear that youth and second tier football is moving into the rear view mirror of her career.