Arsenal’s Mauro Bandeira has made an early return in the middle of his loan spell to Colchester United, raising the question of what’s next for the youngster.

Arsenal youth midfielder Mauro Bandeira moved on loan to Colchester United for the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign back in July, but just six months later he’s back with his parent club.

Bandeira’s loan was terminated by mutual consent, and the 20-year-old has linked up with Mikel Arteta’s squad in Dubai over the winter break.

Things had initially gone pretty well for Bandeira over the summer. He completed his loan to League Two side Colchester early in the window, and he impressed in his pre-season appearances for the team.

When the season got underway, Bandeira was in the starting lineup, making the team for the first three games of the campaign.

But it wasn’t to last. Bandeira dropped out of the side before August was over, before picking up a knee injury in October.

After over a month rehabilitating, Bandeira returned to the Colchester squad in late November, but he never made it back onto the pitch.

By January, Bandeira still only had four starts under his belt. After those first three games of the season, his sole start was an EFL Trophy appearance against the Tottenham Hotspur u21s in September.

A recall was the only sensible decision.

As mentioned, Bandeira is now away with the first-team squad in Dubai, though that’s probably mostly for his own benefit.

The youngster hasn’t played a competitive minute of football since October 14th, so it’s unlikely he’s about to step into Arteta’s team in the Premier League.

Instead, his experience with the first team is likely to be aimed at getting him up to speed for another loan in the second half of the season.