Much has been made of Arsenal losing some hot prospects in recent times.
That’s not to take anything away from the current crop of young stars; Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah are all featuring in Mikel Arteta’s first-team having emerged through the ranks.
However, it’s hard to ignore losing the likes of Serge Gnabry, Donyell Malen and Ismael Bennacer in recent times, and others have moved on too.
Yunus Musah is emerging at Valencia, Eberechi Eze has bounced back to become a Premier League player at Queens Park Rangers, and Josh Dasilva is now a Championship star with Brentford.
Back in the summer of 2018, Arsenal allowed goalkeeper Joao Virginia to leave the club for Everton, and the move really didn’t go down well.
Arsenal fans slammed the club for selling Virginia, believing the club would regret offloading him as he was the brightest young goalkeeping prospect at the club.
More than two years on, those Arsenal fans have yet to be proven right, as Virginia is somewhat lost in the shuffle at Everton.
The Portuguese stopper has now turned 21, but has made just one first-team appearance for Everton, and struggled so much on loan at Reading last season that he only played two league games.
Everton didn’t fancy him as Jordan Pickford’s backup either, bringing in experienced Robin Olsen to take up that role, meaning Virginia is now third-choice at Goodison Park.
Virginia signed a long-term deal with Everton in September, meaning he still has plenty of time to develop into a star for the Toffees, and he may well do so – but so far, Arsenal’s decision hasn’t come back to haunt them unlike many others.
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