Arsenal have been having great success with our Hale End graduates lately, with both Saka and Smith-Rowe pulling up trees for the first team and Maitland-Niles and Eddie Nketiah also included in the squad after being brought through the system.
The latest youngster to make an appearance for Arteta’s side is Charlie Patino, who came on for the last ten minutes of Arsenal’s 5-1 League Cup win over Sunderland, and capped off a dream debut by scoring our last goal of the game.
The Arsenal legend Michael Thomas is certain that the 18 year-old is set to follow in Saka and Smith-Rowe’s footsteps in their rise to stardom. Thomas told CaughtOffside: “He has been really impressive in the way he controls games at the youth ages for some time now.
“I have seen him a fair bit and he always leaves me with a sense of a footballer above the age bracket he’s playing in.
“He is 100% a player I expect Arsenal fans to see a lot more of in the future. He has a manager that trusts young players which is always helpful and the path is clear, as seen with the likes of Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.”
Arsenal also have many other exciting prospects in the likes of Miguel Azeez, Daniel Ballard and Tyreece John-Jules who should all return from loan in the summer, and players like Mika Biereth, Salah-Eddine and Tim Akinola who are still playing with the U23s.
The future is bright, the future is Red & White!
THE JUST ARSENAL SHOW – Dan Smith has a rant over Arteta and ‘Players Welfare”
“…. a footballer above the age bracket he is playing in…”!
YES, that is PRECISELY the quality that all players who become exceptional always seem to have. There are a tiny few exceptions but as in all other walks of life where talent shows through, it is obvious VERY early on in almost all cases.
This is what, at top level of demand, any player who is not showing to be anything out of the ordinary by age 22 is almost certainly , never going to make top level grade.
Nketiah is one aged 22 who comes to mind as an example of this.
Merely useful but not special, never wins or challenges seriously for titles.
Ask Pep or Klopp! They are both seriously ambitious and demanding and won’t settle for less than top quality and 100% commitment by ALL their players.
And consequently, SUCCESSFUL!
“They are both seriously ambitious and demanding and won’t settle for less than top quality and 100% commitment by ALL their players”, this is the perfect attitude to adopt. It’s a priviledge to play for a team as Arsenal. To make it happen, a manager must adopt the attitude of Klopp and Guardiola. They are not all the time into big names but target young tarlent that meet this criteria. That’s why thier success is long-lasting
Patino totally amazed me, but I think Tim Akinola has a better chance of breaking into the Arsenal squad because his ability to compete with Party and Xhaka is greater.