Arsenal is famed for being one of the best places for any player’s talent to be groomed.
The club has developed several top stars whom they have cashed in on and have gone to make names for themselves elsewhere.
Because of that, it is easy to think the Gunners have made more money from selling their academy products than other clubs in England.
However, a new report has just revealed that several other clubs have made more money from selling their academy products recently than Arsenal has.
The Gunners have not even made the most money among English clubs in the last seven years.
CIES Football Observatory ranked 50 clubs around the world that have made money from selling their academy product since 2015.
Arsenal ranked 19 having made £139m in that period.
The Gunners were outranked by Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in England.
Benfica has made the most money from player sales within that period with Real Madrid closely following them.
Just Arsenal Opinion
Making money from selling academy players is a great thing for a small club, however, the top clubs always keep their best players.
Arsenal has some budding stars in our current squad, and if we cash in on the likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, we would move up on the list.
But that makes little sense, and it is much better to keep them and win trophies.
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Not very surprising, we have a common pattern that causes this:
– overhype youngsters
– promote to the first team training
– promise them they are part of your plans
– never/rarelty play them
– get frustrated
– get loaned out to clubs and get limited minutes
– come back from loan with very little experience and more frustrated
– publicly say they need to improve form and attitude
– refuse offers for them bcz it’s “too low”
– player runs down contract
– leaves for free/very little
There is the odd success every now and then but in general this is how it goes. Balogun for example is about in the middle of the above process.
@PJ-SA
Nailed it…
PJ-SA, to the comment “get loaned out to clubs and get limited minutes”, I would also add that the loan clubs are often inappropriate for the development of the player due to the style of play being inconsistent with Arsenal. Serge Gnabry to West Bromwich Albion was a case in point.
Arsenal’s management of financial and player assets is abysmal.
No arguments on that, PJSA. I think our academy IS very good, but it seems to me it is the fans that overhype the players, not the club itself, and if anything the players are over-estimating their development based on that. I see nothing wrong with putting youngsters into first team training, or even on the bench though – especially this season with a 21 man senior squad!
But totally agree with the rest. I don’t think we are unique nowadays though, as they all seem to have super-agents…
Amn typical example,hope he does’nt end that way though.
Many of our younger players have left for peanuts and are now worth much more now and look bad decisions. That has been going on for years.