Rare Mikel Arteta blunder as Joe Willock shines in Kai Havertz role amid West Ham criticism

Spare a thought for Joe Willock when he faces his boyhood club this weekend. A product of Arsenal’s academy as an infant, the midfielder was merely a bit-part player restricted to Europa League appearances and cameos once he graduated to the senior ranks.

The Gunners were still two years away from launching a serious tilt for the title but Willock — who bagged eight Premier League goals during a five-month loan spell at Newcastle United — remained surplus to requirements. There were suggestions that such a successful spell on Tyneside would work against the Magpies and Arsenal would snub any advances to make the deal permanent.

However, on the eve of the top-flight season, Willock was packing his bags in a £25million deal. The player, by his own admission, was left hurting by his hometown team.

“We had loads of conversations on the phone that summer,” Willock told The Telegraph earlier this year. “I wasn't valued at Arsenal, that became clear. When I had a meeting with them, it was obvious they wanted me to go. Yeah, it hurt.

«I would probably have drifted for another year had I stayed. I’d been there since I was four-and-a-half years old. I'd given my life to Arsenal. At that meeting, it just felt like my time was up. I didn't feel valued anymore and that was it — I was going to sign for Newcastle after that.»

Fast forward to the present and Mikel Arteta was sent a telling reminder of one of the few mistakes he has made as Arsenal manager. While the Gunners limped out of the Carabao Cup to inter-city rivals West Ham United, Willock starred in a 3-0 win at Old Trafford — Newcastle’s second triumph there in just 51 years.

Every word Mikel Arteta said on Newcastle vs Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus, Smith Rowe and Havertz form

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