This week, several Arsenal first-team players have used the World Cup break to either link up with their national team squads or go on holiday. There were two familiar faces back at London Colney.
Taking to social media, talented youngsters Charlie Patino and Brooke Norton-Cuffy - on loan at Blackpool and Rotherham, respectively this season - both uploaded images onto their Instagram Stories showing they had briefly returned to the club to make use of the training facilities.
Seeing the pair back at Arsenal may have come as a surprise for some supporters, given their loan spells won't be completed until the end of the season, but there is a perfectly good explanation for why they were back at their parent club's training base this week.
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Just like the Premier League, the Championship campaign has also temporarily paused due to the World Cup taking place in Qatar over the next six weeks. However, English football's second tier will partially resume on December 3, with Sunderland facing Millwall before a full programme a week later.
Therefore Patino and Norton-Cuffy are back at Arsenal, simply using the training facilities to stay in the best condition so that they are raring to go when the season resumes on December 10. That afternoon could see the latter face Bristol City whilst the former could come up against a Birmingham City side that contains fellow loanee Auston Trusty.
In terms of how the Hale End prospects are faring away from the Gunners this season, it's safe to say both spells have been successful so far. Patino has quickly established himself as a favourite amongst the Blackpool faithful, having produced some impressive displays as well as weighing in with two goals and two assists in 16 appearances.
Meanwhile, Norton-Cuffy has featured in all but one game for Rotherham, showing his versatility by operating at right-back, right-wing back and even as a left-sided wing-back for the 2-1 loss at home to Norwich City earlier in the month.
The defender did claim bragging rights when the pair came up against each other at the beginning of the season as he played 81 minutes of a 3-0 win in a game that saw Patino make his return from injury as he had missed Blackpool's previous four Championship fixtures.
Two prospects that Gunners fans will be keeping an eye on when they return to action next month as they could both be key players in the future. As things stand, Norton-Cuffy might have a slight advantage, having signed a new contract in the summer, whilst Patino - who has already made his senior Arsenal debut - is being linked with a move to Barcelona.
With that said, the north London outfit do have a measure of control over the situation, but football.london understands they are yet to trigger the option for a two-year extension in Patino's contract, which must be activated before a certain point in the coming months.
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