tbf the ones that left us for nothing in recent years really have been crap! If ACD or Walters leaves without a fee, particularly Walters, that will be a failing of the club. That said, City & Chelsea have had the same problem a lot in recent years.
Hmm, seems like a similar situation we faced with Balogun. We’ll sign him up, loan him out and sell for pure profit.
Tbh none of the current guys are ready for that level. Looking back, it makes me appreciate Saka even more. The most talented from this crop both U18 and U21 are Nwaneri, Skelly and Monlouis
100% 17 year old saka would not be near the first team under Arteta. And no one was saying give saka a chance before Emery did. Sometimes young players surprise you. 9/10 there is much safer bet in the first team than young talent. Like Amrabat instead of mainoo at United
I think they were negligent because they assumed he would sign without actually doing the work to prepare him for first team football. He'll be 19 by the time he makes his debut and will be behind players around his group despite his potential. He should have signed in the Summer and been on loan. Then we wouldn't be talking about not giving him opportunities- we'd have a clearer idea of how good he can be.
I don't know man, Saka was on fire in the academy. That whole group were killing it. Joe Willock, Balogun, Smith, John Jules, Amaechi... They played electric football and were just crushing teams. None of these current batch really dominate U18 and U21 football like those guys did. Reiss Nelson also made that level look like child's play at 17. I like Duberry, but he has not shown that type of dominance. Closest are Skelly for his physicality and athleticism and Nwaneri for his composure and technique. But even both of those guys have not shown the consistency yet.
Again you can find a reason not to promote every youngster. But if you can promote a player or two and make atleast a squad player of then it saves you a lot of money. We are in a time where 30-40 million gets you an average pl player. This is where academy and coaching becomes big. But with the ffp now I think suddenly a lot of clubs will look more into their academies
Which means we're still a strong option for him, arguably the strongest. I think he should consider his options well because signing for us could mean not playing much football if he sticks around - unless we have a plan that includes first team football, either on loan or here. I think a preseason to impress followed by a decision of loan or backup is the way to go here IF he signs with us. With Euros and Copa America happening this Summer, there'll probably be more academy players than usual. Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri are a given so will be nice if Cozier-Duberry can join them.
Still, it is a different situation to when we used to end 8th etc.
I think because of physicality he chose the far lesser talent. ACD would ruin his career if he stayed. I would argue even nwaneri is better of leaving soon. But that’s too early. I just don’t see Arteta giving academy kids a chance
