Kevin Markey 
Following on from our recent articles on Henri Lansbury and Benik Afobe, this is the next in a series of articles written by fans of clubs who had Arsenal players on loan last season. We’ve asked them to give us an honest appraisal of the player’s performance, their relationship with the fans and, for those of us who may not have seen the player before, a well known player who they are similar in style to. Here’s the take from Elland Road on Sanchez Watt.
It was a case of Sanchez Who? Not Watt when we first glimpsed the wiry paced Arsenal youngster, who stands at a deceptive 5'10", on loan at the end of our promotion League One campaign, but he impressed enough to join up again for the whole of our first season back in the Championship. He showed touches of the skill and class he possesses, especially against Millwall at Elland Road when he made a few 'Maradona' style crowd pleasing moves in a magnificent 3-1 win. Then we knew we were getting a top player who could play in a number of attacking positions. As a whole, the season back in the Championship was a great success for the club as we finished a commendable seventh, just missing out on the play-offs by three points.
Sanchez himself will admit it was a mixed season for him personally despite that Millwall performance, when Max Gradel and Robert Snodgrass were still absent. He started the first six league games of the season but when they both returned, Sanchez lost his place and then got injured as the team more or less started picking itself in midfield and attack. Sanchez knows that if he is going to make it to the very top, he needs to keep putting in as much effort as possible - with and without possession of the ball.
He did manage to feature in the FA Cup matches against his parent club in January and got a rousing reception from both sets of fans when he started and then was subbed at the E******s in the 1-1 draw. Obviously still appreciated by the Arsenal faithful. He then notched his first goal in Leeds colours against Scunthorpe in the league but, once again, the number of injuries restricted his progress and I think this stopped him challenging both Gradel and Snodgrass for starting positions on the wing.
Without doubt most Leeds fans would welcome him back at Elland Road as a permanent fixture in the squad as his chances at Arsenal would be very limited. He has an enthusiastic cult support at the club and a terrace chant of: 'You Watt? You Watt? You Watt, You Watt, You Watt!' always features when he’s in the side. His twitter site also has a very big Leeds following as well, showing how popular he is in Yorkshire.
Just 12 starts and 14 sub appearances for the Whites shows what an inconsistent season he had while his solitary goal and five assists are an unfair reflection on the impact he did have. He’s probably been a victim of the fact that Leeds play with a front four, Snodgrass, Luciano Becchio, Jonny Howson and Gradel, and all four did really well so his chances were limited. I'd like to think he would consider coming back to us if he was made available by Arsene Wenger and hopefully one day he'll be back at the E******s, with Leeds, in a Premier League game! He seems at ease as a winger, a target man or playing off a front man. Great attributes for a player these days.
It’s hard to compare Sanchez with anybody in the game as he’s seems to have a unique style of play, obviously naturally gifted and well coached within the Arsenal academy, the Arsenal way. His ambition is to score a goal at Anfield against the team he supported growing up and I'll wager one day he will achieve that dream.
Thanks to Kevin from the unofficial Leeds United fans’ website leedsunited-mad for writing this piece for us.
