JazzG guess it's karma for the years we tried poaching Europe's youth talents.
On Obi-Martin, it's a shame if he goes but has anyone seen anything to suggest he's a top tier talent? Not sure I have yet.
Arsenal Outs 2024
Don Pacifico I mean he's scoring an insane amount of goals. Hard to tell right now as he's only 16, he could be the next Jay Emaneul Thomas but he could also be the next superstar striker. Its a shame we don't get to see how it unfolds here.
Qwiss yeah, I've seen the goals but looks like he may be benefitting from his physique in that age group. Agree that it's a shame not see if we can harness that into something more.
Don Pacifico definitely benefiting from his physique but plenty of strikers at first team level also benefit from that. Its not like he's going to get smaller.
Qwiss no, but the opposition will get bigger!
Don Pacifico yeah but they'll have said the same about Haaland. Like I say he could JET but he could keep dominating. Its still not great to lose the guys who are dominating the youth game.
The last person to score so many goals at youth level didn't really fare super well when it went to adult level. Dortmund's Moukouko. I mean he did score at adult level but hardly setting the world alight.
Qwiss Its a shame we don't get to see how it unfolds here.
If we don't ever blood youth, youth won't stick around. That's why those Champions League minutes quite a few people scoffed about wouldn't have been a waste.
i'm all for players moving if they aren't getting a chance, but they're leaving for clubs that will just loan them out and treat them the same way we do. bayern isn't going to give him a pathway to the first team that's different from us. he'll be the next zirkee. omari hutchinson left us to do the same things with chelsea, unless he and his advisors felt arsenal were incapable of sending him on loan to ipswitch. i guess it comes down to money and getting some in case it doesn't work out for you like everyone is predicting.
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Meatwad they're leaving for clubs that will just loan them out and treat them the same way we do
You've got to think about these things with the mindset of a frustrated teenager. There's a big difference between the club that's already let you down and the club you can still fantasise will be special.
Put it another way, we'd all have been sweating placing a bet on this kid getting to play five senior minutes next season. So off he goes.
If we’re seriously suggesting a 16 year old is leaving because he hasn’t got enough mins…
Youth players will leave, it happens at every club, increasingly so. These youngsters think they’ve made it before they’ve even kicked a size 5 ball because some agent has signed them up aged 10.
goon If we’re seriously suggesting a 16 year old is leaving because he hasn’t got enough mins…
No, but it's fair to think Obi-Martin may be leaving because we're not giving senior minutes to any of our 18 or 19 year olds either.
To look at it another way, why else would Obi-Martin leave?
Opportunity and perceived ability are a chicken or egg question for the youngsters who make it, but it still only starts to get answered at this level via a determinate share in the finite resource of playing time.
Arsenal has a stacked squad and we've been marooning players as gifted as Smith Rowe, so players won't be expecting much if they're definitely not England internationals with dozens of Premier League goals.
goon These youngsters think they’ve made it before they’ve even kicked a size 5 ball because some agent has signed them up aged 10.
It's mostly the opposite I reckon: they leave because they know they haven't made it, and they're regularly hearing ghost stories about the JETs, Frimpongs and Zelalems from the people around them.
If you're a top talent in the academy and I'd have thought you'd look up to guys like Saka, Eddie, ESR, Nelson and Balogun rather than those guys, especially if you only joined in 2022.
And if game time is your concern at 16, that argument definitely goes out the window when you go and join a club like Chelsea or Bayern.
ESR, Nelson And Nketiah should've already left for their own sake tbh.
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QuincyAbeyie For sure. Eddie made his debut under Wenger. He was never a starter ...you would think he would have left by now.
That's another conversation, but if you believe they've been held back it's not because they didn't leave at 16. They all made it into first team football, have England caps and are destined to play at PL level. I'd say for any academy product that's not a bad scenario.
I’m with Goon. Omari Hutchinson left us to go to Chelsea. He’s enjoying life at Ipswich at age 20. And Chelsea were a midtable club this season - the type of context where Saka, Martinelli, Nelson, Nketiah, ESR, Willock, etc., were able to build up minutes under Emery and Arteta.
For a club near the top, I think it’s less easy to make space for a 16 or 17 year old. When you’re chasing perfection, you consistently need Saka or Rice level performances to get your 90.
Think about everybody’s favorite Arsenal team - The Invincibles. Nobody under 22 had more than 700 minutes. Reyes played half a season. But otherwise we had Clichy, Hoyte, Bentley - all really hot prospects doing nothing. Same the year before