Andries Jonker shares Arsenal’s past doubts on Saka and Smith-Rowe; Nketiah was almost released

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Arsenal fans are really excited about the crop of homegrown talent coming through at the club, with two players really shining.

Winger Bukayo Saka and playmaker Emile Smith Rowe are two of the shining lights from a difficult season at times, becoming important first-team players.

Saka has been impressing for more than a year now, so his first-team brilliance isn’t much of a surprise, but it’s taken Smith Rowe a little longer to get going.

Now, it’s hard to imagine an Arsenal matchday squad without them involved, and they aren’t the only prospects coming through.

Eddie Nketiah may divide opinion on his quality, but he is still around the first team having impressed Mikle Arteta in recent times.

Despite the excitement, it seems that Arsenal weren’t always convinced that the trio would ‘make it’ – so to speak – at the Emirates Stadium.

Telstar boss Andries Jonker is a former Arsenal academy manager, and he played a key role in the Hale End academy facilitiy being redesigned and rebuilt to bring through more talent.

Jonker has now told TV2 that Smith Rowe was a six or seven out of 10 kind of player, with doubts over whether he could really be a star rather than just a squad player at Arsenal.

Jonker added that Saka was ‘very impressive’, but Arsenal weren’t sure whether he was genuinely very good, or whether he was just bigger and stronger than players at his age – and even claims Arsenal almost didn’t even give Nketiah a scholarship.

“He was always motivated and dedicated as an academy player. He has always been very stable in his performances. As a rule, he was 6-7 out of 10. We definitely thought he could have a career in football, but I do not think many predicted that it would get on the first team of Arsenal,” said Jonker. “He was a talent with a solid head, but he was never seen as the greatest talent in the academy. I’m very proud of what he’s achieving at the moment because he’s really put in all the work himself.”

“Bukayo was a very impressive player. He was a big and strong left winger who ran from everything and everyone and slammed one shot after another into the goal. We always wondered if he was so good because he was big and strong, or if he was actually a talented player. Freddie Ljungberg retrained him as a left-back, and today he is a flexible player. Everyone is proud of him. The same goes for Eddie Nketiah, who joined the club when he was 12 years old. We were unsure if we should give him a scholarship, but we let the doubt benefit him. I have always motivated him to believe in himself and work hard, and I am very proud of how far he has come,” he added.