:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/2152458/GYI0063911445.jpg)
Arsenal are set to loan midfielder Denilson to Brazilian club Sao Paolo, according to a report on ESPN Brasil:
A diretoria do São Paulo acertou o retorno do volante Denílson, do Arsenal, segundo informação da Rádio Estadão ESPN. O jogador de 23 anos volta ao clube do Morumbi por empréstimo. Denílson está na China realizando a pré-temporada com o clube inglês, mas desembarca no Brasil na segunda-feira para realizar exames médicos e assinar contrato.
Which, run through google translate and edited for clarity*, is:
The board of [Sao Paolo] has [signed on loan midfielder] Denilson, [of] Arsenal, according to information from ESPN Radio Estado. The 23 [year-old] returns to the club [in Morumbi, a neighborhood in Sao Paolo]. Denilson is in China [playing in] the pre-season with [the] English club, but arrives in Brazil on Monday for medical tests and [to] sign [a] contract.
Denilson has, of course, seemed to fall out of favor with Arsène Wenger (as well as the supporters) lately, and has looked a shadow of the promising continuity midfielder that blossomed in 2008-09. He was brought on at halftime of Arsenal's match against a Malaysia XI on Wednesday, only to be brought off again 20 minutes later. His style of play has become superfluous, sadly, in Arsenal's 4-2-3-1, with the double pivot of Alex Song and Jack Wilshere not really providing a good place for him to fit in. He is decent at intercepting passes and reading play, but his defense more or less stops at that point, and both Wilshere and Song bring more to the table.
If this deal goes through, Sao Paolo should have a player on their hands who will thrive in the Brazilian League, where Denilson's weaknesses (pace, incisive passing) will be less of a problem, and where his skills will come in very handy.
---------------------------------------
*as best I can, with help from Young Guns Blog on twitter. The raw google translation was amazing. In fact, here it is:
The board of St. Paul hit the back wheel of Denilson, Arsenal, according to information from ESPN Radio Estado. The 23 years returns to the club on loan from the Morumbi. Denilson is in China doing the pre-season with English club, but arrives in Brazil on Monday for medical tests and sign contract.