Arsenal player named "one of the world's best young talents" now set for January move

Arsenal star Marcelo Flores, who was once named among the world’s best young talents, is set to leave the Gunners in January, according to a report.

In 2020 Flores, a versatile attacking midfielder was named one of the 60 best young talents in world football by the Guardian.

He went on to feature regularly in the Gunners’ under-18s side and on occasion, their under-23s, before being sent out on loan to Real Oviedo in pursuit of first-team minutes.

Things have since gone sour for the 19-year-old, who has featured just 11 times in La Liga2, mostly from the bench, and recorded a solitary assist in that time.

According to a fresh report, Flores could end his loan spell early, and move to the Mexican top flight instead.

Marcelo Flores to Mexico?

According to Soy Fiera and journalist Cesar Luis Merlo, as reported by Sport Witness, Flores is likely to leave Real Oviedo to join Liga MX’s Club Leon on loan.

The Mexican side, based in León, Guanajuato, are owned by Grupo Pachuca, which also has a majority stake in Real Oviedo. In turn, a deal between those two sides and Arsenal should be easy to come by.

According to the report, Club León has “already received the proposal” for Flores to arrive in January, and the club are now “analysing the situation”.

Of course, Arsenal would need to be involved in any negotiations, though would likely be happy provided Flores would be guaranteed first-team minutes.

Nevertheless, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta insisted that Flores’ loan move to Oviedo would be beneficial, irrespective of the amount of game time the youngster would receive.

The Arsenal boss said: "It’s a very good opportunity for him. Whatever minutes he plays, the experience is going to be very enriching.

"When you go on loan, you have to go through good times and others not so good. What you have to do is adapt and earn your place.

"A lot of times it’s not easy or as easy as it seems. I think it’s an important step for him."

Topics: Football, Arsenal, Transfers, Mikel Arteta, Premier League

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.