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This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...

As confirmed by Arsenal's official club website, promising right-back Jordi Osei-Tutu has been sent out on a season-long loan to 2.Bundesliga side VfL Bochum.

What's the word?

After seeing the success former Manchester City youngster Jadan Sancho has enjoyed in his time with Borussia Dortmund, German football has become a virtual hotbed for youngsters to grow and develop.

The Gunners saw Reiss Nelson shine on a season-long loan to Hoffenheim last year whilst Emile Smith Rowe's time at RB Leipzig was unfortunately disrupted by injury.

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Emery's side will hope Osei-Tutu gains more from playing first-team football on a regular basis rather than continuing to feature with the club's academy sides.

The Alexander-Arnold inspiration

The Gunners were caught considerably short at right-back after Hector Bellerin suffered a long-term injury at the start of the year, leaving Unai Emery to field midfielder-by-trade Ainsley Maitland-Niles in a wholly unfamiliar position.

The youngster coped admirably but it was telling that the Gunners boss chose him over out-and-out full-backs like Carl Jenkinson and Stephan Lichtsteiner.

Bellerin's injury is likely to keep him out for at least the first few weeks of the season too, which makes Osei-Tutu's departure all the more confusing.

Emery's side only have to look to reigning Champions League winners Liverpool to see the rich rewards of actually blooding a right-back from the academy.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's rise has been nothing short of incredible and he has quickly developed into one of the most productive full-backs going forward, notching up 16 assists last season. Similarly to Arsenal's current situation at right-back, the Liverpool star was afforded a chance by an injury to Nathaniel Clyne and never looked back.

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Osei-Tutu may not be anywhere near that level yet but it must be galling for him that he evidently wasn't trusted by the Gunners hierarchy even when there was a injury crisis in his position.

As the right-back's former teammate Cohen Bramall said: "Jordi not getting a chance last season didn’t make sense to any of us. We were gutted for Jordi because we were expecting him to be with the first team a lot more and we didn’t really understand why he wasn’t."

A season out on loan in Germany could be the beginning of the future for Osei-Tutu, but it could also very well mean the beginning of the end for his time at Arsenal too.