Loan Watch: Charlie Patino – Blackpool FC

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Charlie Patino has always been regarded as one of Arsenal’s most considerable talents in the midfield, especially after his goal in the 91st minute against Sunderland, where he made his debut for Arsenal in a 5-1 win in the quarter-final of the EFL Cup.

Patino joined Arsenal back in 2015 at the age of 11 after spending time at both St Albans City and Luton Town, he was later appointed to the under-23s in 2021 before making his debut against Sunderland on the 21st of December. Patino gets his second name from his father who is of Spanish descent. Patino owns a Spanish passport and has the possibility to play for Spain in the future if he chooses to.

He recently got loaned out to Blackpool FC for the 22/23 season on the 3rd of August. The Watford-born central midfielder currently has a transfer value of €3.5 million according to TransferMarkt, but with slow and steady improvements with the Lancashire side, his price-tag could rise before his Loan with the Mariners end.

A recent game where Patino showed his qualities was against Premier League side Nottingham Forrest. In this fixture, Patino played in the number eight role and despite not having the strongest of builds, held his own well in the box-to-box position and escaped the press well to allow him to spread play wide and progress the ball up the field.

Not only does Patino do this, but his also good at escaping challenges with his dribbling capabilities and has a good long-range pass on him also. Blackpool ultimately beat Forrest 4-1 at Bloomfield Road with the help of Patino’s midfield qualities and defensive awareness, ultimately bullying the experienced Jack Colback in most midfield battles, showing great maturity at the young age of 19.

Despite the Seasiders being 22nd in the Championship and struggling with only 26 points to their name, Patino has been a bright spark of light like the Blackpool tower at night, scoring two goals and racking up two assists in 20 games for the mariners.

One thing Patino could work on though is his discipline, with racking up five yellow cards already, but with a struggling side, professional fouls do come around a lot more often.

Throughout the season so far his played both in the number six and number eight position, the versatility he possesses is a very bright sign for such a young footballer and could be a deciding factor in having a successful career.

The highly-rated midfield has had links in the past with FC Barcelona (according to Calciomercato (via The Sun) trying to gain his signature due to his Spanish background and undeniable talent, allowing him to communicate with the likes of Pedri and Gavi, but Arsenal turned down the proposal and look to keep him for the foreseeable future.

Charlie Patino vs Sunderland (1/1/2023)

Full video: https://t.co/WmHn77blBi pic.twitter.com/gkRFHlNeeG

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So far this season Charlie Patino has been extremely pivotal on the defensive side of the pitch, especially with interceptions, making 27 interceptions so far this season, which is a record in Europe. The midfielder also has one less goal involvement (4) than the highly rated Real Madrid transfer target, Jude Bellingham (Via Independent).

One of his most notable performances recently was his defensive contribution against Sunderland where he won 9/15 midfield battles, playing beautiful line-breaking passes, most notably playing a first-time volleyed pass to Irish winger Christopher Hamilton. Some Arsenal fans rate him over Sambi Lokonga and want to see him play over the Belgian in the next season.

Although playing in a struggling side, Charlie Patino has been proving himself game after game and in a few years could follow the routes of Saliba & Emile Smith Rowe with making it to the first team after the must needed confidence and experience of going on loan and proving yourself in different leagues.