Benik Afobe to join Bolton on loan

According to a report from the Bolton News, young Arsenal striker Benik Afobe is on the verge of going to Bolton Wanderers on a loan deal of indeterminate length, in an effort to gain further match experience. Afobe has been loaned to Huddersfield and Reading in the past and has impressed at the reserve level, but with several strikers ahead of him on the depth chart, playing time here (even in Capital One Cup games) would be limited.

With players like Jack Wilshere and Ryo Miyaichi treading the same path to the Reebok Stadium successfully in the past, it's clear that Bolton and Owen Coyle are trusted by Arsene Wenger enough for Arsenal to keep foisting young players on them. So hopefully this loan will go as well as the others did.

Arsenal also had a similar offer from Millwall, but Afobe was allowed to decide between them and evidently preferred Bolton. He may make his debut as soon as Saturday, in the club's friendly with Portsmouth.

According to Lion of Vienna Suite, Afobe will likely compete with David Ngog, Marvin Sordell, and blog favorite Kavin Davies for playing time. This is really probably the deal that works out best for all sides involved - both clubs and the player - so it's good to see.

One would expect this is not the last loan deal that Arsenal will complete this month, as pre-season winds down and we get to the point where the club knows where players stand, so expect more movement on this front as we get closer to the transfer deadline.