Martin Keown has described William Saliba's situation at Arsenal as "bizarre".
Saliba joined the Gunners from Saint-Etienne last summer for a fee of around £27million.
The young defender was loaned straight back to the Ligue 1 club for the 2019-20 season.
The 19-year-old centre-back linked back up with Arsenal this summer but is yet to make an appearance for the club.
A proposed loan move back to Saint-Etienne was not completed before the international transfer window closed on Monday.
If he is not going to be part of Mikel Arteta's first-team plans this term, the teenage could still be loaned out to a Championship club before the domestic transfer window closes on October 16.
Former Arsenal defender Keown told talkSPORT: “It’s bizarre. We’ve just not seen the kid.
"You want to see him to see how he performs say in the Championship to see if he’s good enough.
“I’m anxious to see. The feeling was that this was going to be the one. Gabriel has come in and been an outstanding signing.
"Maybe they feel he’s too young and want him to go out to pastures new.
“To then loan him out when there was a real problem there last season seems a real mystery.”
