The last year has seen a pretty clear change in Arsenal’s academy development approach, and it looks set to continue in 2021/22.
What’s changed?
Last summer, Arsenal made a surprisingly large number of youth signings, with Tim Akinola, Jonathan Dinzeyi, Joel Ideho, George Lewis, Nikolaj Moller, and Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand all joining for low fees or on free transfers. They also tried to bring in Omar Rekik, who ended up joining in January.
Usually, the vast majority of additions to Arsenal’s u23 squad each year come from the u18s, but in 2020 there was a huge influx from external sources as well. This didn’t leave the u23s overstocked, as it was paired with a very large number of youth loan outgoings.
15 youth players went out on loan, and that’s not counting any of the first-teamers like Joe Willock, William Saliba, and Matteo Guendouzi.
It shouldn’t have been a huge surprise that Arsenal were stepping up their loan operations. Ben Knapper had taken on the role of Loan Manager a year earlier, a role that didn’t previously exist. The change alone made it clear that the club intended to have a more intensive focus on maximising the potential benefits of the loan market.
The interesting part was finding out what they planned to do next. Was it a one-off summer of loans? Would the loanees return to fight for first-team spots, eye up further loan spells, or leave the club entirely? The last few weeks have started to give us an answer.
Firstly, it doesn’t look like Arsenal are going to be letting up on loaning players out. They’ve circulated a list of eight youth players up for loan moves this summer, and that list is far from comprehensive. For example, Daniel Ballard is nearing a loan to Millwall, but there was no real need to add him to the list and drum up interest when he already had so much from last season.
On top of that, Arsenal are looking to be decisive with permanent departures. The Gunners have already released Joseph Olowu, and they’ve allowed Zech Medley, Mark McGuinness, and Trae Coyle to complete permanent moves away. That’s four of last year’s 15 youth loanees, and you’d expect more exits to follow.
In the cases of Medley, McGuinness, and Coyle, Arsenal opted to push through the deals by allowing the players to leave on initial free transfers, with sell-on clauses in their contract. Given the current global financial situation, it’s not going to be possible to bring in quite as much money as in a normal summer. Still, those clauses should help down the line.
We’ll probably also get a few players featuring in pre-season. Possibly Harry Clarke due to the lack of available centre-backs right now, Dejan Iliev given Bernd Leno is on international duty, or Tyreece John-Jules as he already has experience with Arsenal in senior pre-season. But across the board, the early signs are that Arsenal are looking to resolve each player’s future as soon as possible.
What are the pros and cons?
The biggest potential benefit of the new system is that it should mean more money for the first team. Not every player will be a success on loan, and it’s inevitable that some will leave for less than they’re worth, or for nothing at all.
But it only takes one or two really making an impression and drawing interest to cover the low costs associated with bringing them in to begin with. When you’ve got so many players out on loan, the chances of finding one or two cases like that increase. Ballard certainly looks to be set to bring in a very decent payday if and when he leaves, and he won’t be the only one.
If Arsenal are thorough with their loan vetting, it should also be a good thing for the players involved. Instead of having the vast majority waiting around in the u23s for chances, they’re going out and playing senior football every week. In turn, that leaves gaps at Arsenal for younger players to step up and test their skills in the Premier League 2.
The potential downside is that you end up with players perpetually stuck in a loop of loan spells, as we’ve seen so often across London with Chelsea’s loan programme. Undoubtedly, it makes them quite a bit of money, but it also leaves a lot of players stranded and unable to really get their careers going.
The older members of the u23s who don’t find loans also may well struggle, as they’re left to play in a team surrounded by inexperienced younger players incapable of putting together consistent performances at that level. To an extent, that’s what we saw this season, as Steve Bould’s u23s only narrowly avoided relegation.
Time will tell if Arsenal can secure the right loans more often than not, if they can find the right balance between sending players out and maintaining a beneficial u23 atmosphere, and if they can handle a larger academy without players slipping through the cracks.