It is a matter of pride for any club to nurture academy players who can step up and deliver fine performances in the first team. This is why Arsenal are rightfully proud of the contributions of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, who have both impressed with their performances so far.
The two youngsters are the latest products of Arsenal’s Hale End Academy to make their mark in the senior squad. Over the years, the Gunners have built a strong tradition of developing some of the world’s best talents, and Mikel Arteta is keen to continue that proud legacy. Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri have both shown their quality whenever they’ve been given the opportunity, and their consistent performances highlight the strength of Arsenal’s youth development system.
One major advantage of developing players through your academy is the financial benefit it provides. The transfer market for established players has become increasingly inflated, with clubs having to pay exorbitant fees for top talent. By developing players in-house, Arsenal can save significant amounts of money that would otherwise be spent on expensive transfers.
The rise of Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly could change the club’s approach to the summer transfer window. Arsenal may no longer feel the need to sign a new left-back or another right-winger, as both youngsters are capable of filling these roles. This could be seen as a positive development, reducing the need for costly signings.
However, this strategy also comes with risks. While academy players offer long-term potential, relying too heavily on them too soon could be a mistake. The experience and expertise that seasoned professionals bring to a team can accelerate success in ways that academy graduates may not be able to match immediately. Experienced players can offer leadership, stability, and a level of consistency that young players are still developing.
Signing quality, established stars would also provide an opportunity for the academy players to learn from them. This could significantly benefit the development of players like Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly, while also ensuring the team is not overly reliant on them too early in their careers. Balancing the integration of young talent with the acquisition of experienced players could be the key to achieving immediate success while still investing in the club’s future.
ADMIN COMMENT
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World’s best talents …Saka ? That’s about it
Wouldn’t say Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Smith Rowe or Wilock could be described as best In world
Saka – proven beyond doubt
ESR – performed well under Emery, sidelined by Mikel.
Nelson – had a good season in Germany, went downhill after that. I’d hold the manager responsible.
ESR and Nelson would be good squad players – rather than wasting 30M on 28 year old Merino and 34M on Viera.
Eddie – should have been gone long before, Mikel held on too long.
SLK – better than Calaufori another waste of 30M+ knowing his past injury record.
Martinez – went for 18M,now valued at 100M
Bottomline – Mikel does not value talent, feel uneasy for Ethan and MSK as they will have to battle out Mikel’s preferred / bought players in the future. They are playing now, not by default but due to injuries to Mikel’s players. Mikel did not make or hire Saka, he was a household name before Mikel came over.
If Smith-Rowe and Nelson were really that talented, they would’ve become more productive at Fulham
Martinez’s value isn’t 100m
As for Saka, it was Arteta who assigned him in the right wing, ahead of Pepe
And remember about Xhaka, who flourished under Arteta’s guidance and positional change, after underperforming under Wenger and Emery
Havertz is also having his most productive season in England, because of Arteta’s guidance
GAI – the question is Merino a better player than ESR? The second question is – did Fabio do wonders when he played for us, is he an upgrade over Nelson? I mentioned that the above are not starters, good squad players. Mikel as replaced squad players with those worse than what we had. If Kai’s performances make you go gaga (which is fine with me), then we will never win anything with him or Mikel. His “best” season has us got dumped out of 2 cups and trailing the EPL leaders. As for Xhaka and Mikel’s ingenuity, it hardly matters as in his final we did not win anything and got a paltry sum of 21M+. The point is Mikel makes a very poor finance manager
None of those three are good enough
Merino you could say it’s too early to judge whereas a Nelson and Smith Rowe had years to prove themselves
Nelson barely doing much at Fulham
While Smith Rowe done okay there it’s a different pressure those clubs
Merino should be more suited to the left-sided AM position in Arteta’s tactics as compared to Smith-Rowe, because Merino is taller, left-footed, more experienced and better in tight spaces
Vieira was supposed to compete with Odegaard for the right-sided AM role, but he needs to bulk up first
Arteta, the best thing since sliced bread if you listen to gotanidea. 🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️
Arteta would likely win a major trophy with another top European team if he gets sacked by Arsenal, since he’s a very talented manager
If he is so talented, then why can’t he win it here when he has all the authority? Why not the league Cup with a full first team? Remember he no Carlo Ancelotti
gotanidea,
I wish he would go to another European club, and take the likes of Zinchenko, Jesus, Calafiori, Merino, Kiwior, Havertz, and Sterling with him.
Then see if he would win a major trophy. With these duds. Not forgetting these were his signings.
Your talented manager claims, are seriously challenged in my eyes by his more than ropey dealings in the transfer market. 🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️
He may put out a team like
Raya / Runar
Tomiyasu, Kiwor, Calaufori, Zinny
Lokonga / Jorginho
Sterling , Fabio, Merino
Kai/Gabby J.
Now one can see why we are struggling with injuries, out of 2 cups, no chance of the EPL while UCL looks like a pipe dream on paper. For the third consecutive year, after phases 1,2,3,4&5.
That’s the issue we make these players sound better then they are
Reiss Nelson played 90 times for Arsenal more then enough chances to prove himself
If we are taking about winning title then it’s no disgrace to say he’s not quite at that level
Who is SLK ?
Apologies, Miles Lewis Kelly
Lewis SKELLY dammit. 🙄
Thanks QD for the correction
When are we going to encourage our players???
We are not buying world class players because there is no money.
Most of the players are tired. We sold players that were playing like the players that we bought. Is there a difference between Nelson and Merino????
Yes, there is a difference between Nelson and Merino.
Agreed there is a difference – Nelson is 26 years 1 goal in 11 games for Fulham, Merino will be 29, 2 goals in 16 games. Nelson cost nearly nothing, Merino cost 31M+ . Replacing Dacia with a Datsun
We only saved money in midfield and defender departments, because of Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly
But Arsenal academy hasn’t produced a physically-dominant CF like Haaland yet
Chido Obi-Martin. Six foot two of goal scoring muscle.
Jax,
He would have been worth a try in the first team given the chance. But it seems that when United came knocking, he couldn’t get out if the club fast enough.
Derek, in what first team game would you have played a 16 year old striker ?
As the saying goes, if your good enough your old enough.
Now I know he showed a lot of promise in the academy games. But although he’s very young, if you can finish like he can, he would have been worth a look.
Even if it was from the bench. The amount of goals he was scoring, even at such a young age suggests to me that being in a side that would create more chances, would give him even more chances to thrive.
And lets face it young or not, he’s a heck of a better finisher than a certain Mr. Havertz.
That was in answer to Herr Drier by the way. My bad.🤦♂️
Derek, why have you swerved my question ? I’ll ask again, in first team game would have played a 15 year old striker ?
I made a mistake in my previous post about COM’s age when saying he was 16.
Herr Drier,
It didn’t stop Arteta picking Nwaneri did it. Or was that a publicity stunt.
In answer to your question, I wouldn’t have started him, but I wouldn’t have been averse to bringing him on in some games from the bench.
And if he stood up to the challenge, then who knows.
As I said in an earlier piece, if your good enough your old enough as the saying goes.
And lets face it, with his scoring record for the academy side, he sure wasn’t as bad a finisher as Havertz was he. 😉👍
League Cup, because we are not interested in that competition. Maybe 45 minutes or so each game?
On the flip-side, I am concerned that once Saka is fit again, Nwaneri will be immediately sidelined once again regardless of how well he performs. Arteta has demonstrated an unwillingness to rotate his squad until it is taken out of his hands.
I fear this will ultimately lead to Nwaneri becoming disillusioned and asking to leave, because it also has become apparent that despite where he might say his best position is, he is fantastic on the RW.
what if we shift Saka to the Left Wing? He was excellent there even before he moved over to the right. Fed Aubameyang many tap-ins.
Lets worry about that when time comes
At moment more options the better
This is a chance though for Nwaneri
See if he takes it
The emergence of Nwaneri and MLS has been so satisfying and I believe Max Dowman is considered by our Academy staff to be the best they have ever seen for his age.The fact that injuries has forced Arteta to trust these youngsters has no doubt accelerated their development to the extent that they are now regarded as regulars in our player pool.To me Nwaneri is already a very good back up for Saka and before too long I hope MLS is given an opportunity as a central midfielder as he seems to have the skill, energy and combativness needed in the engine room.He is not a LB , inverted or otherwise, and never will be imo.Apart from the youngsters the team has shown a lot of resilience to keep in touch with Liverpool, and while injuries have impacted ,our performances overall this season have not been fully convincing.Perhaps a week in the sun will recharge the players batteries and lead to good performances for the remainder of the season.
Without the injuries, how many chances would Nwaneri and MLS have received? Injuries forced his hand in much the same way as ESR when he emerged with the first team.
ESR finished with 10 goals that year since December, if I remember correctly. In spite of that, club wasted 34 million on Vieria, who was not even up to ESR’s level, based on performances and results.
Let’s see how Nwaneri and MLS factor in next season after a Summer of spending.
Nwaneri is certainly capable of being a backup, but not a 3rd choice winger to rotate with the starting two.
MLS has been the better LB this season, although Calafiori’s poor injury record has made any comparisons difficult.
Without injuries MLS and Nwaneri would have fewer opportunities. Would that necessarily be a big issue?
ESR had injuries and had not clearly defined a role in which he could consistently compete against the other available options.
Unfortunately, Vieira did not work out as hoped but IMO Arsenal needed another option.
Has anyone else noticed how Obi is doing United’s academy. He sored a hatrick for them in the FA Youth cup in a 5-1 win.
And guess who United have been drawn against in the quarter finals. 🙄🤦♂️😉