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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Maitland-Niles witnesses Mourinho meltdown as Arsenal handed lifeline for £2.5m summer windfall

It turned out to be a great weekend for a couple of ex-Arsenal players.

Joe Willock scored his first goal of the season as Newcastle United held West Ham United to a draw - doing his former club a favour in the top-four race - whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is up and running for Barcelona after netting a hat-trick in their 4-1 win over Valencia.

But what about the players still contracted to Arsenal but not currently at the club?

Well, what started out as a 17-man strong loan army when the summer transfer window closed has since increased to 23 with all the movement during the January transfer window.

Although not everyone got some minutes or the results they wanted over the weekend with Reiss Nelson missing Feyenoord's 3-1 win over SC Cambuur with a knock, Runar Alex Runarsson being beaten twice in Leuven's defeat at Sint-Truiden and Folarin Balogun's Middlesbrough losing 2-1 at Fulham.

William Saliba's first Ligue 1 outing after being named Marseille's player of the month ended in a surprise 2-0 defeat at home to Clermont - a game that Matteo Guendouzi also featured in.

There was some good news for Lucas Torreira as Fiorentina beat Atalanta and for Hector Bellerin as he featured in Real Betis' 2-1 win over Real Mallorca to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

Speaking of the Champions League, there is one Arsenal player getting experience in the competition this season.

However, it's the Concacaf Champions League rather than the elite level in Europe as Auston Trusty - who joined the Gunners in January only to be loaned back to Colorado Rapids - featured in their 1-0 round of 16 first-leg defeat against Guatemalan side Comunicaciones F.C.

The 23-year-old will have a chance to avenge that loss in the return leg later this week.

Auston Trusty joined Arsenal on deadline day. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images) (Omar Vega/Getty Images)

Konstantinos Mavropanos' Stuttgart are now winless in eight games but they have stopped a run of four straight defeats after drawing 1-1 at home with Bochum.

The result keeps them second from bottom in the Bundesliga table and four points from safety, but this may be the start of an unbeaten run to move away from the relegation zone and activates the obligation to buy the central defender for €3million (£2.5m) in the summer.

Although, the option isn't valid if they are relegated. Instead, they would only have an option to buy Mavropanos and whilst a permanent transfer is likely it would be for a fee not much more than Arsenal initially paid for him.

Pablo Mari got another 90 minutes under his belt in Udinese 1-1 draw with Lazio, but arguably the highlight of the weekend in Serie A came as AS Roma rescued a point at home to Verona.

Images often speak a thousand words and the one below is no different as Ainsley Maitland-Niles got a front-row seat to Jose Mourinho's apparent spectacular meltdown on the touchline.

With that said, the former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham manager's mood would have improved come full-time as Roma fought back from 2-0 down to earn a draw.

As well as some first-team players using their loan spells to put themselves in the shop window for potential buyers ahead of the summer transfer window, a number of Arsenal's most promising players have been sent out on loan to gain valuable experience either around Europe or in the lower leagues in England.

football.london takes a look at how the remainder of Arsenal's loanees fared over the weekend.

Daniel Ballard was denied his return to action on Saturday as Millwall's game at Blackburn Rovers was postponed 42 minutes before the game was due to take place. The defender has been out of action since November after undergoing knee surgery and was named on the bench.

Fresh off a man-of-the-match display against Peterborough United in midweek, Karl Hein helped Reading record a 3-2 win over Preston North End - a result that boosts their chances of Championship survival.

Jordi Osei-Tutu made his second Rotherham United appearance on Friday night, playing the final half hour of their 1-1 draw against fellow League One automatic promotion chasers Wigan Athletic.

With Lincoln City and Crewe's games against Fleetwood Town and Portsmouth respectively being postponed, it meant two academy prospects in Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Ryan Alebiosu who could end up saving Arsenal millions of pounds on a new right-back were denied another runout.

Elsewhere in the division, Matt Smith played the entire match as Doncaster Rovers lost at home to Sheffield Wednesday although he didn't come up against Tyreece John-Jules who wasn't included in the visitors' matchday squad.

And in the Vanarama National League South, Tom Smith missed out as Welling United were beaten by Slough United.

Harry Clarke , who was recalled from his spell at Ross County only to return to Scotland and join Hibernian on loan until the end of next season is yet to make his debut as he is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and not expected to return to action until March, as per transfermarkt.

In the same division, Tim Akinola is yet to add to his solitary Dundee United appearance as he was an unused substitute in their 1-1 draw against reigning champions Rangers.

Meanwhile, Nikolaj Moller is still awaiting his first Den Bosch goal after two appearances and Jordan McEneff's Shelbourne debut ended in disappointment as they were beaten 3-0 at home by St. Patrick's Athletic.

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