The futures of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri are reportedly hanging in the balance after a report stated that Arsenal were open to selling the pair – despite them being among the best youngsters in the Premier League.
Both have emerged from the Hale End academy and made their mark on first-team football and selling them would be the wrong move, right?
“It’s part of us,” Mikel Arteta said in response to being asked a question about what will happen to Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly.
“I think at the end, what it has to define this football club is to seek for the excellence and to seek for the best, regardless of whether you’re coming from the academy or from abroad.”
Alas, there have been times in the past when the Gunners – under Arteta and even beforehand – have let go of youngsters far too soon. Here are the five of the best players the Gunners may look back on with regret.
Brooke Norton-Cuffy
Now making a name for himself with Genoa, Brooke Norton-Cuffy was once on Arsenal’s books. The defender’s form in Italy could see him return to his homeland in the summer months – but the Gunners are unlikely to be among those sniffing around his signature.
That’s because they’ve already sold him once before. Initially lured away from Chelsea’s academy around a decade ago, he rose up the ranks but never managed to get a crack at the senior whip in north London.
A number of loan spells in England – at Coventry City and Rotherham – failed to materialise into permanent moves and he’s found his feet at Genoa. Hindsight is, for sure, a wonderful thing.
Carlos Vela
Carlos Vela’s situation is a peculiar one: he arrived in the capital to plenty of fanfare in 2006 but the forward went on to endure a series of loan spells at the likes of Celta Vigo, West Bromwich Albion and Real Sociedad.
The latter saw his potential and pounced. The Mexican then moved to the La Liga side on a permanent basis in 2012 before becoming the face of Major League Soccer when he joined Los Angeles FC.
All in all, Vela played a total of 62 matches for the Gunners – but his career perhaps proved he could have fared on a bit-part basis at the Emirates. Maybe a case of right player at the wrong time?
Serge Gnabry
The biggest mistake of the lot. Serge Gnabry’s career has certainly taken an interesting route… he was on Arsenal’s books between 2011 and 2016, which is when he signed with Werder Bremen permanently.
Then he moved to Bayern Munich in 2017 and the rest is history. The German forward, 30, is now a one-time Champions League winner and also has six Bundesliga crowns to boot.
Incredibly, Tony Pulis infamously deemed him “not at the required level” during his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion but it’s clear that Gnabry has got the final laugh. He’d certainly start for Arsenal in today’s day and age.
Donyell Malen
Donyell Malen is a tricky one. Now 27 and currently on loan at AS Roma, the seasoned Netherlands international – like Norton-Cuffy – didn’t manage to prove himself on the senior stage at Arsenal.
The Aston Villa man was signed by Arsenal when he was 16 years old and many believed his future was bright; but things didn’t work out. He was subsequently sold to PSV Eindhoven in 2017.
Malen has since risen up the European ranks at PSV and then Borussia Dortmund before landing a move back to English soil. Selling the 1999-born star to PSV for peanuts was a poor move by Arsenal.
Mika Biereth
Another youngster who was sold too early by Arsenal is Mika Biereth, who never managed to chalk up a senior outing for the north Londoners. Could he have been the antidote to their long-standing striker issues?
A nine-cap Denmark international at the age of 23, Biereth has plundered 18 goals and five assists for AS Monaco to date – and it’s not unfair to say that he is far from the finished article.
That said, he’d thrive under the guidance of Arteta’s backroom staff. The Danish centre-forward did leave England for a fee of £4 million but his market value has certainly risen exponentially since then.
