Loanees- Emmanuel-Thomas makes professional debut for Seasiders

Just over 24 hours after completing his loan move to Blackpool, Arsenal’s double-winning under-18s captain Jay Emmanuel-Thomas made his professional debut this evening after coming off the bench during the Seasiders’ goalless draw with Derby.

Replacing David Vaughan on the left-wing four minutes shy of the hour, Emmanuel-Thomas immediately made his presence felt with several bustling runs and looked calm in possession. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fashion any clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.

Yesterday, after completing the signing of Jay, on an initial one-month loan, beaming manager Ian Holloway said:

I am delighted, we have had a few things boiling over on the stove in the last few weeks and to get what we have got is pleasing, I am delighted to have Jay, he is a fantastic young lad, he has a great physique and he wants the chance to come out and play, he obviously belongs to Arsenal and if you look at what they did on Saturday [against Everton] they have got some fantastic lads and Jay is one of them, the pleasing thing for me is that Jay came up on Saturday saw the training facilities, saw the pitch, the work going on at the South end of the ground and the way we played and he believes he can help us and he wants to be part of it.

Holloway also hinted that the loan could be extended beyond one month if it suits both parties.

He had other options so I am delighted he has plumped for us. Initially it is just a month but I hope to convince him we can build on that and extend it for a longer period.

Arsenal’s other two loanees, Havard Nordtveit and Pedro Botelho, have yet to feature for their temporary clubs.