Sporting director confirms Arsenal loan won’t be extended

Lucas Nygaard’s time with Brabrand IF is at an end, with the club’s sporting director confirming his initial loan spell won’t be extended.

Arsenal youth goalkeeper Lucas Nygaard has spent the season on loan with Danish third-tier club Brabrand IF, and there were some suggestions earlier in his spell that Brabrand might look to bring him back for another loan next year.

But with Nygaard’s initial loan coming to an end on Saturday, Brabrand sporting director Andreas Rasch-Christensen has now confirmed that it won’t be extended.

“He’s going back to Arsenal now, we’re not extending the deal,” Rasch-Christensen told Tipsbladet. “What’s going to happen after that, I don’t actually know.”

Yet this shouldn’t be viewed as a sign that the loan hasn’t gone well. On the contrary, Rasch-Christensen suggests it’s been very positive, but that Arsenal have other plans for the player now.

“We have been really happy with the collaboration – Arsenal have been too,” the sporting director added. “The intention was for Lucas to have more hair on his chest through some senior football, and he has got that.

“[Extending the loan] hasn’t really been part of the discussions. My impression has been that they want to take some further steps with Lucas. We had been open to extending the agreement…it has been Arsenal’s wish that something else should happen.

“We have been happy with the level he has shown, especially in the matches. We have been really satisfied with it. He has also saved points in some matches. His greatest strength is on the line, he is fast, a top-class shot stopper.”

Nygaard ended up making 12 appearances for Brabrand across the course of the season, keeping three clean sheets.

Unlike many goalkeeper loans, where you’re either starting every week or not, Nygaard was regularly rotated in and out of the starting lineup. He had five separate spells in the lineup for varying numbers of matches.

Nygaard and Brabrand will now part ways, with the Danish club having helped the goalkeeper to get a first year in senior football under his belt.

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