Costa Rica international Joel Campbell has confirmed that he will return to parent club Arsenal once his loan spell at Sporting concludes at the end of the campaign.
The attacker made a surprise switch to the Primeira Liga outfit during the summer transfer window after manager Arsene Wenger failed to assure him a regular role in the starting lineup.
Wenger had seen the emergence of Alex Iwobi during the back-end of last term, and this combined with the availability of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain urged him to offload the forward on a temporary spell.
The 24-year-old, who is most fondly remembered for his Champions League goal against Manchester United while on loan at Olympiakos, made a bright start to his Sporting career with four goals in 10 outings for the Lisbon-based club.
However, he has since gone off the boil in his last 11 appearances where he has failed to find the net while being restricted to a role from the substitutes’ bench.
In an exclusive on Portuguese outlet A Bola, Campbell has admitted that he will not be signing a permanent contract with Sporting owing to the lack of a buy-out clause, and he will be returning to the Emirates in the summer.
“There is no purchase option,” he told A Bola. “I have to fulfill my loan to Sporting in the best way and then return to Arsenal.”
Campbell will have completed his fifth loan spell on his arrival to north London this summer, and the attacker is hoping that he will leave an impression at Sporting where he would have wished to play more.
“I have given the best of myself, sometimes I play, other times not, but that’s football,” he added. “But I hope I can play again when I return (from international duty).”
Campbell has netted four goals in his previous 30 outings for the Gunners, and he could consider himself unlucky due to his failure to earn a UK work permit much earlier in his career.
Recruited from Saprissa in the summer of 2011, Campbell had to wait until the 2014-15 season for his Gunners debut – at a time when Costa Rica made their name on the world stage. He could still have a future at Arsenal next season with both Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lucas Perez deemed to be heading for the exit door.
