The Scotland left-back was injured during the summer transfer window and could not earn a move away.
While he is now close to full fitness, he knows that a place in the Arsenal first team may not be there for him.
"There is every chance. Look at the squad depth in that position now," he told The Athletic.
"They have (Oleksandr) Zinchenko, (Jurrien) Timber, (Takehiro) Tomiyasu, (Jakub) Kiwior. Four players can play there. So if I go back and it's the same as before then I'm not silly, I know the chances are I'll be leaving.
"But you never know in football. You get the rare case with (William) Saliba, where he came back after a couple of good seasons (out on loan) but you don't see it too often with someone who has played for four years, left, and then come back to play again."