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Aston Villa agrees a deal to sign Arsenal youngster

Aston Villa has agreed to sign Arsenal left-back Lino Sousa on a permanent transfer.

The Gunners currently have some of the country’s finest youngsters in their ranks and are continuously developing more talent.

Sousa has been a regular for Arsenal’s youth teams and is a highly respected prospect in English football.

Despite working hard to earn a promotion to the first team, it has proven to be a challenging task.

Villa has capitalised on his lack of a breakthrough into the first team, successfully enticing him to join their squad. Fabrizio Romano has revealed that an agreement has been reached between Villa and Arsenal for the 19-year-old’s signature.

Just Arsenal Opinion

Sousa is a fine talent, but we are too big for him to get regular game time, so he has decided to leave.

At Villa, he will enjoy a faster route to the first team, and he knows he is making a good decision for his future.

We wish him the best and he may still have a future at the Emirates. If he performs well at Villa Park and becomes one of the finest in his position in the league, we could sign him again.

For now, he needs to get a run of games in the first team and prove his worth.

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79 Comments

  1. Seems a strange move given that Villa already have 2 established left backs in Digne and Moreno whilst we do not have any?

  2. Am I the only one that noticed that Arteta has not promoted any young player? I’m beginning to feel the guy is overhyped, he’s only special in using established products and despite his lack of success, he’s not ready to look at the young stars. Imagine selling this young man when it is evident that zinch is not the answer. Xavi ppl has been struggling, but his promoted young stars have been great as far as I’m concerned. I’m not sure Patino will perform lower than that overrated Kai H. But he’s the manager, so we watch.

    1. Something is not right with how Arteta spend so much on underperforming players and let special players go for free.

    2. No Kay, you are not the only one. Quite a few of us in here have been highlighting it for some time. How Villa can sign him, and loan him out because we cant accommodate him, is incredulous.

      1. So if Villa are loaning him out doesn’t that mean that they don’t consider him ready for Premier League football? If he’s not ready for Villa how could he be ready to play for us?

    3. Totally agree Kay. Fergie did it at United and look what trophies his stars won. Nevilles, Beckham, giggs, scholes blended well with the established players

      1. Now Ten Hag also do the same. Yesterday, youngster Mainoo scored 1 great goal.
        Barcelona’s Xavi has the gut to use several teenage players.

        1. Or Xavi is forced to use young players because their financial constraints mean he has no other choice. How are Barcelona doing by the way? So well that Xavi is leaving at the end of the season.

          1. Xavi had won the La Liga for Barcelona in last season by using young players. Hope you know about this.

            Won a League Title:
            Xavi – YES
            MA – NO

            I presented in an idiot way for you to see.

            1. So last season, when they won the league, which youth players did Xavi rely on? Alejandro Balde is the only one who made a significant number of appearances. Pedri and Gavi were already established in the first team, and the others made one or two cameo appearances.

              Fast forward to this season where due to financial restrictions Barce really are having to rely on their youth players, and where are they? 8 points off the top of La Liga and out of the domestic cup.

              And don’t worry, even if you do present things in an “idiot way” we can still understand, so don’t feel bad.

              1. Xavi became Barcelona manager on 6 November 2021.

                Last season, 1st 11 of Barcelona:

                NAME STARTS APP SUB
                1. Marc-André ter Stegen 38 38 0
                2. Raphinha22 25 36 11
                3. Gavi30 30 36 6
                4. Robert Lewandowski9 33 34 1
                5. Frenkie de Jong21 29 33 4
                6. Alejandro Balde28 30 33 3
                7. Sergio Busquets5 28 30 2
                8. Jules Koundé23 28 29 1
                9. Pedri8 22 26 4
                10. Andreas Christensen15 22 23 1
                11. Ronald Araújo4 21 22 1

                Your comment:
                Barcelona:
                8 points off the top of La Liga and out of the domestic cup.
                My comment:
                Barcelona is still at 4th position. Is Arsenal any better?
                Arsenal is in 3rd position but out of all domestic cup.

                Both teams are in Champion League.
                Arsenal

                Alejandro Balde is the only one who made a significant number of appearances. Pedri and Gavi were already established in the first team, and the others made one or two cameo appearances.

                Xavi in this season use Lamine Yamal & Fermín López BUT MA HAS NO NEW YOUNG PLAYER. In their latest match vs. Osasuna, the new debutant is Vitor Roque who scored the only goal.

                By the way, there are 15 debutants in the Xavi era.
                Note: Not all debutants are young.

                YOU HAVE TO GIVE CREDIT TO XAVI BECAUSE
                1. HE KNOWS HIS YOUNG PLAYERS
                2. HE DARES
                3. HE TRIES

          2. My comment:
            Now Ten Hag also do the same. Yesterday, youngster Mainoo scored 1 great goal.
            Barcelona’s Xavi has the gut to use several teenage players.

            Your comment:
            Or Xavi is forced to use young players because their financial constraints mean he has no other choice. How are Barcelona doing by the way? So well that Xavi is leaving at the end of the season.

            My comment is Xavi “has the gut” to use young players. Your comment is to discredit Xavi.

            How are Barcelona doing by the way? Barcelona is in 4th position, Arsenal is in 3rd position.

  3. im sorry but Kay your comment is pathetic.
    we have one of the youngest squads in the prem, we are in a title race and champions league push but yet you want us to bring in more youth which means less experience and more chance to fail – this isnt football manager where you can win the prem with a squad of u21’s. this is real life, we have a young squad with some older players but need only a few key areas to improve and if we stick in an 18yr old whos played 0 prem minutes and expect them to get a hat trick or man of the match when they are under pressure?
    we got lucky that martinelli / saka came in and hit the ground running. and you throw in patino, you do realise hes out on loan (funny we can’t field someone whos currently playing for another team……)

    1. Wilson we are in the competitions but our lack of depth is just the most worrying if you are going to be honest. We all KNOW that our manager is pathetic when it comes to managing top mature (older) players. Tierney surely is not a bad player if you look at how poor Ziny is defensively.(just one example) So I think he should be promoting more young players given that glaring weakness.

    2. Wilson, you obviously didn’t get the ghist of what Kay was saying. It has nothing at all to do with what you have written in reply. It has to do with poor development of youngsters, under Arteta. Why do we have a youth system?

      1. Perhaps you should address this to Per Mertesacker. In general I agree with you the alphabet is boring, and itˋs easier to write Arteta 😁

          1. I guess it’s got something to do with what the youth development mob have recently not been able to provide and PM oversees that .. or have I missed something obvious, Reggie?

              1. Well, perhaps the reason is the age or quality of the players. How many elite players do you expect we should produce every fifth year? We are developing players, some do we keep others do we sell or offload, sounds like a good methodology to me.

                  1. You are using too much time on negative subjects. I’m sure that Arteta will give our academy players a fair chance. But, from where we have been and until now the main focus has been different, and that is understandable. You guys demands a lot and not everything is realistic in a relatively short perspective. Let’s support our club and players and help them to deliver a proud season 🔴⚪️

                    1. That is just flannel, Arteta has not promoted ONE accademy player, in over 4 years. Stop waffling and smell the coffee.

              2. If they players aren’t of sufficient quality then it has everything to do with the academy staff. Which youth players have Arsenal let go that went on to bigger things? Who has Arteta overlooked that we now regret releasing? Even Villa don’t consider Sousa to be of Premier League standard so have loaned him to Preston. He’s not ready for Villa but should be in our first team?

  5. Another youngster not given an opportunity even though this is one position where there have been serious question marks regarding the manager’s current picks.

        1. Under Arteta.
          There was Balogun who did well last year but had a problematic contract situation and we were forced to sell, and now he has a bad season.
          There is Hutchison who left for Chealse and is not playing for them.
          We now have some promising youngsters I believe Arteta will give a chance- Walters, Nawerni, Leweis-Skely. I hoped Susa as well, but you don’t know what is going on there and what drove him to leave.

            1. He came from West Midlands in January 2022 and return to West Midlands in January 2024. He was longing for home, not unusual.

              1. But he is playing in Plymouth. And that still doesn’t answer the question why Villa would want to buy him over us.

                1. Not unusual that players need to change environment several times to be the best version of themselves. Sousa can very well become a great player, but there’s no guarantee. We gave him an offer but he wanted something different. I wish him all the best and hope he has made the right decision.

                  1. Thats so wrong saying that. If he is going to be a great player, then that should be at Arsenal. Surely we cant let him gountil we are sure. And why has not one accademy player, has come through under Arteta. That is bad.

                    2. Arteta, employs Mertasacker, for one. And you still are not seeing the relevance of over 4 years and Arteta not bringing one accademy product, into the team. I would think, if you looked back, NO manager has gone that long for Arsenal, without doung it. Its poor and its wrong, for all sorts of reasons. AND there is no excuse.

                    3. Sorry Reggie, but you dislike Arteta and use every possibility to write negativity. Did you read the article I informed you about? Should Arteta use academy players that clearly aren’t good enough? How many of our academy players have become top players last five years after leaving us?

  6. Yet another youngster, Arteta, is wasting away.
    I watch Pep and Klopp field academy players week after week, and they have a better squad than we do. There was a myth that Arteta improves players. The performances of Saka and Martinelli say otherwise. Not one single breakout player from our academy in 4 years.

  7. This one is a bit worrying to me – not just because he’s gone without being given even the smallest opportunity at first team level, but because he’s gone to an Emery-run club. Without wishing him any ill, I hope he’s not as good as has been talked about – have a feeling he’s a pretty good player and we’ll regret letting him leave, but we’ll see.
    We have to start giving real opportunities to young players – we can’t afford to keep spending 30 to 100m on every player and it gives such a boost when a young player comes through the youth team and does well. For my money, nwaneri is exactly the type of player we’re missing from our midfield – he might not be ready to start every game at this level, but I really think he should be starting to get some game time here and there, to integrate more with the first team and to start gaining experience.

    1. For Davi and Grandad
      From what I read this is a permanent deal and not a loan deal. I am very disappointed with this. Our LB position has been poor. I am reasonably confident that OZ is going to get exposed in the next game against Liverpool and we are letting go of a natural LB.

      1. it is not as though Villa thinks he can now compete for a first-team place. They now low him to Plymouth Argyle. Maybe we should have extended his contract and loand him at the start of the season, but it is not as though other PL teams thing he can compete at this level.

        1. I knew he’d left permanently, but the loan makes it even worse – that shows he’s not been lured away by promises of immediate opportunities at first team level, but rather suggests he’s been convinced he development is better handled with villa. We could have sent him on loan to Plymouth and thought about his future at the end of the season. At least we’d likely have better information about whether he can make the grade. It’s a very strange transfer imo

  8. I’m really mad because when is nwaneri going to play, arteta only played him for show. To have that reccord but the boy haven’t even seen 1 min after that while liverpool playing their youth against Chelsea

      1. AP. i think the rediculous, was playing him at whatever age for two minutes and then, nothing. What was that all about?

      2. @Admin Pat If you’re good enough, you’re old enough. Remember a certain Rooney from Everton scoring a beauty against us?

        1. Do you know that he is good enough? There’s obviously a reason why the enthusiasm has calmed…

        2. Agreed! Barcelona has 17 yo Yamal.

          Thanks to Ken1945, I almost forgot about Grabriel Martinelli was put inside cold storage before he was given a chance. I forgot why he was given a chance, may be due to many players injured.

          1. You are making yourself look silly, trying to defend the undefendable. Its poor, that we have NO accademy products, promoted by Arteta.

            1. You are writing nonsense Reggie. How many of our academy players have become top players last five years after leaving us? Names please.

            2. That is not a credible perspective.
              Insisting that Arteta must develop Academy players by trialling them in first team games when he not convinced of their readiness is completely unreasonable.
              The Academy is there to develop players. That is not the primary job of the first team’s manager.
              There are 5 players from the Academy who are currently in Arsenal’s first team squad. Whether they were given their debuts by Arteta or not is irrelevant. A couple of them have become amongst the best young players in the world under Arteta’s guidance. That’s Arteta’s remit not the manufactured stuff that those who only look for something to whine and complain about keep coming up with.

                1. remarkable that when we win a match like yesterday that we were likely to lose… the naysayers always have to find something negative to say… they are rarely on the positive thread.

                  so either they are a plant by JA to keep threads alive or worse they are plastic Arsenal fans who dont really support the team…

                  We have people saying what has it got to do with Per Mertesacker when its literally his job to bring on the Academy players as the head of the Academy ! its HIS role to tell the Manager who may or may not be ready and then up to Arteta to let them train with the team and then see if worth sticking on the bence

                  I am sure if Arteta had stuck 3 or 4 young players in and we were in 4th or worse then the same people would be calling for his head

                  So damned if he does and damned if he doesnt !

  9. A concern how Arteta seems not interested in maximizing resources.

    He could promote Souza to first team and replace Cedric. A great opportunity to work with the first team, test/develop him in Arteta’s system, AND THEN decide whether to keep, loan, or sell.

    I thought Arteta had a reputation for developing youth at City? What happened with our youth?

    Saka and Martinelli already established and performing when he arrived. Just reinforces the notion he is a checkbook manager.

    2. @Durand . They said he developed Sterling and Sane, who were already quality. Nobody said he could develop academy talent. lol. I wish Arteta the best, but he has way too many flaws to be a manager at a club at the level of Arsenal.

    4. To suggest that Saka and Martinelli were already “established” when Arteta became manager is disingenuous.
      How many games did Martinelli play for Emery in the PL?
      To what extent did Emery help Saka develop his game at Arsenal? What positions did Saka play under Emery?

  10. It will be arrogant to get the U18s involved in our tittle race. The only way we can involve them is to invite them to first team training on regular basis and substitute bench so as to get familiar with Mikel’s style of play. Their time will naturally come but not yet!

    1. You mean, like Liverpool has with Bradley? The brought Bradley and another youth in in the FA cup win over us and showed us up.

        1. But you haven’t answered your own question in the original post. If Liverpool and City can do it, why cant we.

          1. Because they are more accomplished than us and are refreshing. A cycle we will get to at some point afterwhich we attain their achievements ourselves and it’s worth noting that they can’t make us any better than we are, given the pressure the responsibility comes with and pressure happens to be a factor we should minimise as much as possible in our bid to win our FIRST PL tittle in TWENTY YEARS!!!

              1. For the level of consistency we need coupled with lack of experience and of course pressure, they can’t!

      2. Yes, just like Wilshere, Cole, Saka and ESR. It’s nonsense to compare players with each others. I have seen a lot of talented kids with exciting qualities not manage the step from U18 to adult football.

        There are lots of different reasons, but sometimes they aren’t good enough or struggles to convince, don’t handle the pressure etc. Some can change environment and restart their careers, but others are just average players not suited for elite football.

  12. After we mature a little bit more in our experience I believe Arteta will try to bring one or two players through maybe it’ll start like Durand has said they may get a squad position and learn how Arteta likes to play possession ball. I imagine over the next three seasons we will see one or two of them in our squad

  13. Generally speaking we have a young squad

    That doesn’t automatically mean they are not becoming more experienced as time goes by. Last season showed our inexperience so I would expect NEXT season to see new faces take their chances as the previously young squad are maturing and becoming fully established

    I see this season as one for consolidation of what we SHOULD grow into.

    We can huff and puff about the youth not getting a sniff but there really aren’t many “old heads” in our team. Xhaka was one such player, as he was one man to put an arm around the shoulder

    Having a pop at over emphasising youth signings at the expense of experience is perfectly valid imo.. Balance is important and at the moment I think we are overly reliant on them

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