Arsenal have exercised the option to recall 19-year-old goalkeeper Ryan Huddart from his loan spell at Eastleigh.

The talented teenager, who made seven appearances (all competitions) for the National League side following his move in the summer, struggled for regular minutes at competitive level and it’s understood this is the main reason why the Gunners have decided to cut his loan spell short.

All things considered, this makes sense.

Huddart has made plenty of appearances starting for the various youth teams and the decision was made that he deserved regular minutes at a competitive level. When the deal was initially confirmed, eyebrows were raised given the quality of team he was joining at Eastleigh.

Plenty of praise for the player was delivered upon his arrival, but managers at Eastleigh have been constantly chopped and changed since the summer when he joined on a season-long loan.

Chris Todd and Ronnie Moore have both been dismissed since the start of the new campaign, and current boss Martin Allen presumably didn’t favour the teenager over more experienced goalkeepers.

It can often be a tough time for goalkeepers with regards to regular minutes, especially if they’re training well but have been brought on a loan deal. There’s ultimately no guarantee they’ll play if everyone is fit.

Eastleigh themselves have struggled for consistent results in the league this term, so it comes as no surprise that a recall was on the cards, especially as the general consensus would’ve been that Huddart would feature on most matchdays and not warm the substitutes’ bench.

It’s possible that Huddart could go back out on another loan spell, especially with the goalkeepers that are at Steve Gatting’s disposal in the u23 set-up currently.

Hugo Keto and Matt Macey are both doing well when called upon to start, so there’d be no immediate reason to drop either of them just because of Huddart’s return to the squad.