Arsenal loanee Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand made his first 90-minute appearance in over two years this week, ending the season strongly.
Arsenal’s Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand made it all the way to the final whistle of Friday’s match against FC Eindhoven, the first time he’s done so since March 2022.
Hampered by persistent injury problems, the Arsenal academy midfielder has struggled for consistent minutes on the pitch. But that’s changed in recent weeks, as he’s finally put a run of starts together.
When Oulad M’Hand made the Den Bosch lineup for Friday’s game, it was his ninth consecutive start. That’s the most starts he’s had in a row in any season since joining Arsenal in 2020.
On this particular occasion, Oulad M’Hand couldn’t help his team to a result, with Den Bosch losing 2-0. It hasn’t been a good season for the club, and they only narrowly avoided relegation from the Dutch second tier.
Latest Arsenal injury updates and newsBut for Oulad M’Hand, his recent run of nine games and four direct goal contributions gives reasons to be positive ahead of the summer.In all, the 20-year-old played 20 times in 2023/24. The primary goal of this season would have been to get fully fit, and though he’s left it late, he finally seems to have achieved that target.
In Oulad M’Hand’s three seasons at Arsenal before 2023/24, he made a total of 26 appearances between the Premier League 2 and the EFL Trophy, broken down as follows: 2020/21: 3 appearances, 25 games missed through injury2021/22: 21 appearances, 11 games missed through injury 2022/23: 2 appearances, 38 games missed through injury (25 missed for Hull City on loan, for whom he never played a match)Oulad M’Hand will have one year on his Arsenal contract when he returns to the club this summer, so he’ll likely be looking for an extension or a permanent move.
