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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Pepe recall proposal, third deal announced as £5.9m transfer moves closer - Arsenal loan latest

With just over a fortnight until the January transfer window closes, there has been more movement regarding this season's Arsenal loan army.

After 26 appearances across all competitions and 10 clean sheets, Arthur Okonkwo's spell with League Two outfit Crewe Alexandra has come to an end and he took to Instagram to bid farewell as a loan move to Austrian side Sturm Graz was officially announced on Monday morning.

"Arthur Okonkwo has been recalled from his loan at Crewe Alexandra and has joined SK Sturm Graz on loan for the remainder of the season," a statement from the club read. "The 21-year-old goalkeeper will now spend the second half of the campaign playing in the Austrian Bundesliga. We wish Arthur all the best for his loan spell at SK Sturm Graz and look forward to seeing his continued development."

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta's next Arsenal transfer priority is set after Mykhailo Mudryk blow

Confirmation of this deal means Okonkwo has become the third Arsenal player to change loan clubs already this month after Miguel Azeez and Brooke Norton-Cuffy who made their debuts for Wigan Athletic and Coventry City respectively at the weekend.

Even with Ovie Ejeheri, Tom Smith, Alex Runarsson, Nuno Tavares, Marcelo Flores, Salah-Eddine Oulad M'Hand, Mazeed Ogungbo, Tim Akinola and Tyreece John-Jules not featuring for their respective loan clubs for one reason or another, it was still a busy weekend for those with Arsenal connections up and down the English football pyramid and across Europe.

For example, in the Netherlands, Mika Biereth started for RKC Waalwijk once again but couldn't prevent them from crashing to a 2-1 loss against Volendam, whilst Omar Rekik made his first appearance for Sparta Rotterdam since October as he was introduced as an injury-time substitute to help them get over the line against Excelsior.

Meanwhile in the Championship, Charlie Patino played the full 90 minutes as Blackpool lost to Watford, Auston Trusty had an afternoon to forget as Birmingham City conceded four away at Bristol City and Harry Clarke played the final 11 minutes of Stoke City's 3-1 loss at Sheffield United.

North of the border in Scotland, Alex Kirk started for Ayr United in their 2-2 draw at home to Arbroath and Ryan Alebiosu came on in the 87th minute as Kilmarnock were beaten 2-0 by Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

With Nikolaj Moller potentially in action for Den Bosch this evening (Monday January 16), football.london has rounded up the main headlines for the rest of Arsenal's loanees from the weekend just gone.

Arsenal stalemate and Pepe recall touted

Before Arsenal's win over Tottenham on Sunday, north London momentarily took over the Stade Auguste Delaune in the Ligue 1 clash between Reims and Nice. In the home corner was Folarin Balogun as he came up against Nicolas Pepe, although there was nothing to choose between the two sides in a goalless draw.

Interestingly, some Gunners supporters on Twitter have been touting the idea of recalling Pepe from his loan spell after seeing the £88million deal for Mykhailo Mudryk hijacked by Chelsea.

@aZtro_dude said: "Arsenal should just recall Pepe", @DoroArsenal said: "Now Recall Pepe from his loan. He will add the needed depth. #Arsenal", @george_gregs17's message was "Recall Pepe @Arsenal" and @edoyak09 said: "Let's recall Pepe from loan @Arsenal. He has unfinished business. What you are looking for is just within reach sometimes."

Perfect(ish) week for Maitland-Niles

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has had a decent week. Well, sort of, and in terms of results as Southampton beat Manchester City to reach the Carabao Cup semi-final before coming from behind to beat Everton on Saturday to move to within a point of climbing out of the relegation zone.

The versatile midfielder himself wasn't in the matchday squad for the 2-0 win over Pep Guardiola's side and only played the final five minutes as a substitute at Goodison Park.

Another Mari reminder

Monza ended the weekend with an 11-point cushion over the relegation zone and it's worth another reminder that Arsenal will receive a €7million (£5.9million) transfer windfall at the end of the season with football.london previously reporting Pablo Mari's loan deal includes an obligation to be made permanent on the proviso that the club avoids the drop.

Speaking of the defender, he got another 90 minutes under his belt in the 3-2 win over Cremonese. With that said, the Spaniard may not have been too happy with his part in Cyriel Dessers' goal which set up a nervy finale as he lost an aerial duel with Daniel Ciofani in the build-up, but it wasn't too costly.

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Arsenal news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from the Emirates Stadium

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