Former Arsenal midfielder Marcus McGuane is set to complete a surprise move from Barcelona to Dutch second division side Telstar on a season-long loan.
England youth international McGuane, 20, joined Barca from the Gunners in 2018 and made his debut for Ernesto Valverde's side shortly after as a substitute in the Catalan Super Cup final.
His appearance in that win over Espanyol saw him become the first Englishman since Gary Lineker to play for the club's senior side.
However, that was his only involvement with the first team and his appearances for the B team have also decreased since Garcia Pimienta replaced Gerard Lopez as coach.
Pimienta preferred other players in the middle of midfield - such as Riqui Puig, Oriol Busquets and Monchu - and often used McGuane out of position on the right-wing.
That prompted the former Gunner to consider a future away from Camp Nou and there have been plenty of offers this summer.
Croatian side Hadjuk Split, Turkey-based Besiktas, Italian top-flight team Sassuolo, Nordsjaelland from Denmark and Belgian side KV Oostend were among the many clubs to table offers for the player. A late offer was also made by another Dutch club, VVV-Venlo.
McGuane, though, turned down the proposals from those clubs in favour of a move to Telstar, who play in IJmuiden, 30 kilometres outside of Amsterdam.
The terms on offer from Telstar were far less than those on the table in Croatia, Italy and Denmark, but the ex-Arsenal man was keen to link up with coach Andries Jonker.
Jonker, Louis van Gaal's assistant at Bayern Munich and Barcelona, was the head of Arsenal's academy when McGuane played for the club.
The two struck up a good relationship in London and McGuane feels that Jonker is someone who can help him regain his confidence following an 18-month spell at Barcelona which has seen him play little football.
Another former Arsenal player has also followed Jonker to the Netherlands, with Charlie Gilmour joining from Norwich City on a season-long loan in July.
McGuane has one year to run on his deal at Barca, although the Spanish champions maintain an option to extend his contract by an additional two years.
Sources say the club could look to prolong his terms if things go well in Holland and then look to sell him on permanently next summer.
In addition to his one first-team appearance at Barcelona, he turned out 24 times for the club’s second string - making eight appearances as they were relegated from the second division in 2017/18 and another 16 in the Spanish third tier last season.
