There’s no substance in the rumours linking Miguel Azeez with a loan move to Charlton, according to SLP sports editor Richard Cawley.

On Monday night, @RobbieFtbl claimed Miguel Azeez was heading out on a season-long loan to Charlton Athletic. He added that the medical is on Wednesday. However, Richard Cawley reports that there’s ‘no substance’ in the report.

If I’m being honest, this rumour seems like it was tailor-made to take advantage of naivety in the Arsenal fanbase.

It’s certainly not impossible to see a young player go on loan before even establishing themselves with the u23s, but it’s obviously less common. At this stage, Azeez has only made a couple of appearances in the Premier League 2.

The hype around him has surpassed any kind of realistic expectations for his progress. He should be spending this season settling in with the u23s, but you see people on Twitter expecting him to step up to the first-team squad every matchday.

There’s no doubt he’s a talented young player, but I’d also argue he’s not ready for senior football quite yet. I say that as someone who watches him live, not after finding a YouTube compilation and deciding he’s the next Vieira.

His technique is above what you’d expect for his age group. He’s skilful and a strong passer with a dangerous long shot. But his game awareness is closer to what you’d expect from a 17-year-old.

I’m not here to dig into him to prove a point, I just think the discourse around Azeez has become dangerously lopsided. Young players need encouragement, but they don’t need pressure heaped on them. Let him grow with the academy in peace this season.