We all know that Mikel Arteta was the captain of Arsenal back in the Wenger days, and he saw how Le Prof would nurture young players into the squad having trained them to play the Arsenal Way.
We all know that Wenger was handicapped by paying for the Emirates Stadium loans, so the only way he could compete with the rich moneybags teams (mostly Man United in his day) was by buying potential and famously pointing out “Arsenal don’t buy stars, we make them”.
well, it seems to me that Arteta is trying to do the same thing, and he has invested heavily in bringing in a lot of young players that could potentially stay together for years and grow into title winners if coached correctly.
This summers purchases are clearly pointing in that direction, with Ramsdale 23, Tomiyasu 23, Odegaard 22, Lokonga 21, Tavares 21 and Ben White 23.
He has also given long term contracts to talented academy graduates like Saka 19, Smith-Rowe 21, and Balogun 21.
Gabriel 23 was signed last summer on a long term contract, and extensions have been given to Tierney 24, Martinelli 20, Holding 25 – and Arteta persuaded Maitland-Niles 24 to stay as part of the squad.
There are more than enough youngsters there to have a core of the side for many more years to come, and if Thomas Partey 28 and Granit Xhaka 28 can stay fit and be the calming influences.
So it is obvious that this is a building plan for the future, and hopefully the new arrivals will gel quickly with the existing youngsters and we can start building a winning mentality very soon.
As Arteta said: “You can see and tell from the recruitment that we’ve done and the really young squad that we have at the moment and it cannot happen overnight.”
So, can we just show just a modicum of patience and let Arteta and his youngsters grow together.
No matter how hysterical you geet, we are NOT going to get relegated, and we have more than enough talent to get us into the Top Six.
Be Patient…