The Premier League club loanees keep receiving much attention in Portugal. Both Liverpool’s Lazar Markovic and Arsenal’s Joel Campbell always have something written about them, and today it’s the Gunner’s winger who is in the papers.
Both Record and O Jogo seem eager to see him play more. Record has a short article saying the player is ‘asking for minutes’ as he’s too good to be on the bench.
Campbell’s number of appearances this season is good, since he played nine games already. The problem is that he only had two starts, and having been brought on only after 65 minutes during the games, he’s totalled 239 minutes played.
The biggest issue is his positioning. Campbell prefers to be a right-winger, and Sporting’s biggest starlet these days is Gelson Martins, who’s exactly a right-winger as well. Martins is described as ‘untouchable’ by the manager Jorge Jesus, which means the Arsenal loanee must be moved to the left or to the bench.
But O Jogo shows up with a solution this Monday, saying Campbell should play behind the striker. To prove that, they’ve managed an interview with Marcelino García Toral, who was his coach for Costa Rica.
“He’s a player who can work in many attacking positions, both inside as a second striker, and also on the two wings,” Toral told O Jogo. “He has great individual ability, is good at dribbling. He’s a working kid who adapts to quick attacking situations or to more organised attack against a more defensive side.
“He can play in a patient or in a quick style. The left may not be the position where he feels more comfortable, not as much as in the middle or on the right, but it’s a position where can play.”
Having scored two goals this season, Campbell’s spell in Portugal has been pretty decent. The loan expires at the end of the season, with Sporting not having an option to buy.
