Arsenal have high hopes for youngster Tim Akinola – and his surprise move from Huddersfield Town has now been explained.
Arsenal have placed real emphasis on their Under-23 recruitment in recent times.
The likes of Omar Rekik, Joel Ideho, George Lewis, Mika Biereth and Nikolaj Moller have all arrived in recent times.
Possibly the most surprising addition came in 2020 as Arsenal pounced to sign midfielder Akinola.
Released by Huddersfield Town, Akinola probably didn’t think he would be earning a move to Arsenal.
Akinola, 20, now has 39 appearances for Arsenal’s Under-23’s, picking up one goal and one assist.
Akinola may have been an unlikely signing for Arsenal, but he has been turning heads in North London.
For instance, Thomas Partey was left rocked after facing Akinola in training, stunned by his sheer strength in the middle of the park.
Now expected to go out on loan, Akinola may have real hope of a future in the Arsenal first-team setup.
Arsenal’s head of emerging talent Yousuf Sajjad has now spoken to Football London, praising Akinola.
Sajjad noted that Akinola has a ‘champion mentality’ at such a young age having forced his way onto Arsenal’s radar.
Akinola’s agent sent a video to Arsenal of Akinola in action, and that caught Sajjad’s attention.
Akinola then did everything to impress Arsenal, even hacking down one of his friends in a game – and Arsenal gave him a chance, which now looks to be a great decision.
“Tim Akinola was an example of probably the most prominent pillar for us when signing a player and that is showing champion mentality,” said Sajjad. “During COVID, it was difficult for us to make decisions on some of the players. We eventually built a process that we were happy with and followed successfully with all the other boys but with Tim, I received a video from his representative and it was impactful. Showed he had the desire, aggression and tenacity. We asked for full games so we would watch him more and my scouts highlighted some areas where he needed to improve from a technical basis.”
“When situations allowed – I asked if I could watch him live anywhere. Still unattached, Tim asked if I could come and watch a 7 v 7 he set up. He came over and introduced himself to me and I could see the hunger in his eyes straight away. He absolutely clamped one of his mates in the opening minute, you could see straight away that he wanted it. After the game, reviewing all the work we had done along with that live interaction – it was enough to give him that opportunity,” he added.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
