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The clearest indication yet his Arsenal career is over?

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Arsene Wenger has hinted that Carl Jenkinson has fallen right to the bottom of the pecking order in the right-back position after not starting the 24-year-old in Arsenal’s 3-1 home win over Bournemouth.

When Hector Bellerin was ruled out with an ankle injury for a month, all eyes were on Jenkinson to step in and fill the void until the Spaniard returned. He did manage to start the following game against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League but looked nervous and off the pace a little.

Jenkinson was expected to start against Bournemouth on Sunday but didn’t even manage to make the bench. Wenger opted to deploy forgotten man Mathieu Debuchy, but the Frenchman could only muster 15 minutes before picking up an injury.

Now that Debuchy faces a lengthy layoff, Wenger has decided he will play either Gabriel or Francis Coquelin out of position ahead of Jenkinson:

‘I had Coquelin who was ready to play right-back as well. But I have gone for Gabriel, because he is more a defender and he’s very quick.

‘And he adapted well. I watched tapes of him of playing full-back at Villarreal, two or three times he played left-back.

‘I found only one tape of him playing in Brazil as a right-back, and I must say it was not super convincing. But I think today he did well.’

This must be the clearest indication yet that Wenger has lost complete faith in Jenkinson and his ability, and it would come as no surprise if the Frenchman puts the England international up for sale when the January transfer window opens.

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