Unai Emery has given the biggest insight yet into his thinking about who will be the long term replacement for the departing Aaron Ramsey.
Ramsey is set to join Juventus in the summer and it has become clear that he will be a huge loss to us, he is a big game player and his absence since he got injured against Napoli in the second leg of the Europa League has been felt.
The media seem to come out with new names almost daily as a likely replacement for the Welsh wizard, however, Emery appears to be seriously considering promoting within.
Emery was asked in an interview with SkySports if he was confident that he could find an adequate replacement for Ramsey?
“Yes, but there are also players coming through from the academy who are producing good performances and who could progress,” he says.
“We could replace him with a player from outside, or with a player who is already here who can grow like he did himself.”
So there you have it, he is confident that he will find a suitable replacement and made it clear that the replacement could come from the outside or within.
I have been clamouring for Arsenal to bring through more of our youngsters for some time, that policy has worked out very well for some of our rivals and while you still have to bring in one or two established players that does not mean that you do not take a risk either.
Big names bring experience with them, they can lead by example and influence the youngsters and in some cases mentor them but even Billionaire boys club Man City are bringing through the odd kid, Phil Foden as an example, Tottenham are doing it every season recently, Manchester United have been doing it for years and so have Liverpool, for some reason we have fallen behind when once we were leaders.
I for one hope that Emery does promote within and at the same time bring in some top quality where required.