Sunderland brought in a couple of players on loan on transfer deadline day, but Arsenal’s Ryan Alebiosu ended up not being one of them.

Ryan Alebiosu of Arsenal during the Premier League 2 match at the Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston, England on 4 October 2020. Copyright: Andy Rowland
Ryan Alebiosu of Arsenal during the Premier League 2 match at the Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston, England on 4 October 2020. Copyright: Andy Rowland

The Northern Echo reported on Tuesday that Sunderland were set to complete the double loan signing of Leon Dajaku and Ron-Thorben Hoffman from Bayern Munich, and that Ryan Alebiosu’s move was unlikely to go through as a result.

The EFL only allows clubs to name a maximum of five loan players in their matchday squad. You’re allowed to sign six or more, but you’ll have to leave at least one of them out every match, making it an unfavourable use of resources.

With the arrivals of Dajaku and Hoffman, Sunderland had hit that limit of five.

News had broken a week earlier that Sunderland were interested in the loan signing of Alebiosu from Arsenal. Reports suggested the two clubs were in talks, without the League One club actually making a formal offer.

Those talks reportedly gathered pace late last week, only to fall through at the last minute. It’s a shame, because a move to League One, particularly to a club battling near the top of the table like Sunderland, seemed like it could be a good one.

There’s certainly little chance of Alebiosu getting first-team chances at Arsenal right now, given the current right-back situation. Instead, he’ll have to settle for a few more months in the u23s before ideally finding a different loan move in January.