Arsenal: Hull City manager Steve Bruce admits Isaac Hayden may return to the Emirates

Hull City manager Steve Bruce believes there is a chance that Arsenal loanee Isaac Hayden may make his way back to the Emirates, because of a lack of game time for the midfielder. The 20-year-old has failed to get in the starting line-up over the past few games given the form of Jake Livermore and Arsene Wenger wants to bring him back so as to be able to loan him to another Championship club where he will get on the pitch more often.

Bruce had previously confirmed that Hayden was all but on his way back to Arsenal, but has now changed his stand with a barrage of fixtures coming up in the Championship and also an FA Cup fourth round tie against Bury or Bradford City lined up at the end of January. The midfielder started against Brighton in the third round, where they won 1-0 and Hayden's brilliant performance there has seen Bruce face a dilemma.

"He played really well. I don't want him to go anywhere. Obviously he's a tad frustrated because he wants to play. With Livermore being back in among us he's had his way blocked a little bit. He produced a fantastic performance (against Brighton) which I was very pleased about," Bruce said, as quoted by Eurosport.

However, when asked if Arsenal are still willing to take Hayden back, Bruce added, "There's a chance, but I hope not. If I've got anything to do with it he will stay because he's the type that if he gets into the team he could stay there. I think we just have to weigh up the options for him. The first thing is he is a loan player so you have to be thankful that he's here, that's he's come and wanted to play for us. So we have to be right by him."

"Certainly if I had my way he's going nowhere. We will see what happens in the next couple of weeks."

The Gunners are on the verge of completing a deal for Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny and would rather prefer Hayden to spend some more time on loan at a club in the Championship and build himself up for a stint with the first team. Tomas Rosicky is also back in full training for the Gunners, thus providing more cover in central midfield.