Isaac Hayden Insists He’d be at Arsenal if not for Training Injury

Isaac Hayden, Newcastle United’s youthful defensive midfielder, was a player with loads of potential in the eyes of his Arsenal handlers. In fact, if it weren’t for an injury on the training ground, he would have made a debut for the club. That debut could have changed everything.

According to Hayden, in October 2014 he was set to play against Hull. If you follow Arsenal, you know that it never happened. And you remember hearing about Hayden being sidelined for a long eight months.

Any injury in football can hurt a player’s development. Just take a look at Sebastian Deisler who moved to Bayern Munich in 2002 after being touted as a top player. Knee injuries, followed by more injuries meant he could never actually live up to his potential. He was setback.

Isaac Hayden feels the same way. In an interview with the Daily Mail.

“It was hard to take, it was my big chance. I was trying painkillers and everything but it was literally hanging off!”

Like most players, he didn’t want to believe that eight months was the timetable. But he couldn’t do anything about it. After he came back, there was already a player performing well. Hayden was sent off.

“I knew then when I went on loan to Hull last season that I was done, I wouldn’t play for Arsenal. After that it was about getting the right club.”

Newcastle United was that club. Now getting regular team appearances, Hayden looks to be on track to be what he could have been at Arsenal. While he may have been set back by an injury and lack of playing time at Hull, it seems he has found his footing with Rafael Benitez and the magpies.