The big news yesterday was how the door may be open for Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri to leave the club. This did not come as a surprise for me.
I was already in the process of writing a blog about the players who may leave this summer, and MLS and Nwaneri were on my list.
No one wants to see academy graduates leave, especially those which have shown the potential of MLS and Nwaneri. But to be a success in football you need to evolve and Arsenal may have evolved beyond the pair.
A few years back we had the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles breaking through. We returned as top 4 challengers based on the performances of Hale Enders.
But to evolve into the consistent title challengers we now are we had to look at better than wha we had. And that meant the likes of Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino coming in.
The only one from that group who is still at Arsenal is Bukayo Saka. He has gone on to be one of the best right wingers in the world. And that really is the level you have to be to make it at Arsenal.
Last summer we spent, or committed to spend, around £150m on Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Piero Hincapie. It is the fellas who have “taken the minutes off” MLS and Nwaneri.
Some will argue that MLS and Nwaneri are superior to those that replaced them. but that is simply not true and is just their anti-Arteta agenda (anyone Arteta doesn’t play regularly they overhype).
Madueke has log been Saka’s understudy for England. He offers something that neither Saka or Nwaneri do – raw pace and brilliant in 1 on 1 situations. Madueke is an upgrade on Nwaneri, who I don’t actually think is a winger.
When we signed Eze under the nose of Spurs, everyon celebrated. Everyone was excited. It then baffles me why some are complaining about lack of minutes for Nwaneri when a player they were so excited to secure was always going to take minute off him.
Long-term, I think Nwaneri will play more centrally. Martin Odegaard if first choice and we then spend £65m on Eze to give Arteta another top class option in that area.
Eze is a proven Premier League player and another regular in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.
Whilst most expect Eze and Madueke to go to the World Cup, Nwaneri’s name is not in contention. That says a lot about those who rate him above the senior pair. The might criticise Arteta, but Tuchel also thinks they are superior.
Over in Marseille, Nwaneri is struggling for regular minutes with the French team. The thinking over there is my thinking. That he is not really suited as a winger, but does not yet have the durability to play centrally. He needs more time, and that is time Arsenal can not afford to give him.
As for MLS, he has become a victim of system change at Arsenal.
Last season he looked fantastic, playing as an inverted full back and providing an extra body in midfield. This season we have changed things up.
Jurrien Timber tends to be the man playing inverted on the right hand side, that has left the left being used to maintain the with. Something which Ricardo Califori and Piero Hincapie do brilliantly. And something that MLS does not.
In Califori we have a marauding left back who, when for, is one of the best in the league. A fantastic player and regular starter for Italy, although his injures area concern.
I think we signed Hincape due to Califori’s injuries and wanted a left back cover who was closer to want the Italian provided.
The Ecuadorean has been an excellent signing, and may become our first choice next season. He joined, on loan, having been part of the Leverkusen invincible side and over 50 caps for his country at 24. His class is not in doubt.
Arsenal still have a lot to learn in the transfer market. Our poor sales are well documented.
What Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool do very well is selling academy graduates, taking the profit and reinvesting.
Cole Palmer, Jadon Sancho, Morgan Rodgers, Liam Delap, Romeo Lavia, Pedro Porro, Brahim Diaz and Taylor Harwood-Bellis have all left Man City over recent years. None have gone on to achieve more than the players that replaced them.
Chelsea have sold the likes of Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Marc Ghuehi.
Jarrel Quansah, Rhian Brewster, Neco Williams, Bobby Clarke, Tyler Morton, Ben Doak, Caoimhin Kheller, Sepp van den Berg, Fabio Carvalho have all left Liverpool earring them nearly £150m.
We made a mistake not selling Maitland-Niles and Nelson back in 2021 or 2022. The pair would have generated a combined £50m. Money which could have been invested in someone better. We at least made close to £100m in selling ESR, Nketiah and Willock.
Estimations are that we could net over £100m in selling MLS and Nwaneri. That is a lot of money (and pure profit) for 2 players that do not actually need replacing.
Eze and Hincape are already an upgrade on the Hale End pair. we would basically be getting the same fee as what we spend upgrading.
MLS and Nwaneri are clearly both talented. The just need game time and right now their transfer value is based on their potential.
Ideally I would like us to do similar to what Liverpool have done with Quansah. Take a lesser fee from a European side with a buy back clause.
Rather than selling the pair to Man U or Chelsea for £50m each, a better move would be to take £35m from a Dortmund, Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid. And then have a nice sell on clause and an option to resign them for £50m. That is also the sort of deal that Man City had done a lot over the years.
That way, if either do kick on and fulfil their potential, we can resign them as the finished article. And if they do not become good enough for Arsenal, we may be able to pocket some more profit of they move again.
It is way to forget that both are still just 19. £100m for players with as little experience as them is a lot to turn down. And money we could then invest in players who are playing at a higher level.
It is hard to see academy graduates leave after many of us have invested emotionally in them. But that is why those running the club do the job they do. They do not let their emotions influence their decision.
Keenos
