Arsenal have made seven of their academy players available for loan moves in the January transfer window, according to a report.

Football.London report that seven of Arsenal’s academy stars have already been made available for January loan moves.

Folarin Balogun, Omar Rekik, Tim Akinola, Zak Swanson, James Olayinka, Ben Cottrell, and Ryan Alebiosu all make the list, and there really aren’t too many surprises in there.

Starting with Balogun, we’ve already heard academy manager Per Mertesacker say the young striker will likely go on loan, confirming reports from the likes of David Ornstein that a loan is on the table.

There has also been plenty of talk around Rekik in recent weeks, with The Athletic reporting that Arsenal are planning a loan for him, and Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley speaking out to praise him.

There hasn’t been so much in the news about Akinola lately, but reports in October suggested Arsenal were planning to activate a one-year contract extension in his contract (taking it to 2023) before loaning him.

Swanson and Olayinka have both been out on loan before, and it’s seemingly just a matter of finding them the right club for them in January. If they get a good offer, there was never much doubt they’d take it.

Cottrell also looks in need of a loan, but his biggest problem has been getting fit for one. The 20-year-old has only played once this season, but he recently rejoined training after recovering from his latest setback.

That leaves Alebiosu, who we know came close to joining Sunderland over the summer. Though that didn’t work out, he’s clearly on the market again next month.

Any of these potential January departures makes sense, as they’re all the more senior members of Kevin Betsy’s u23 side, and none of them are getting consistent first-team minutes at Arsenal.

It’s largely out of Arsenal’s hands now. All they can do is wait for offers to come in. That’s other than perhaps with Balogun, where they should already have plenty of interest.