There’s not much to shout about for Arsenal fans this season, but one glimmer of hope is their academy.
Bukayo Saka is the standout Hale End graduate, with Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah are also making noises in the Arsenal first-team.
And Mikel Arteta has praised one man, who perhaps doesn’t get enough attention, for helping their rise – Per Mertesacker, as he told Sky Sports.
The 36-year-old is Arsenal’s academy manager and Arteta praised the German for the ‘fantastic’ job he is doing with the youngsters.
“We are lucky,” said Arteta. “We have some really good players coming up but we need more and in order to do that, we need to keep investing in our academy, to have the right coaches.
“I think Per is doing a fantastic job. Let’s keep feeding the first team as much as we can.”
Regardless of what happens to Arsenal this season, and even Arteta himself, one crumb of comfort for the supporters is the conveyor belt of talent coming through.
There are even those who are thriving outside of the North London limelight and they may have a say next season.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is beginning to pick up on-loan at West Brom, whilst Joe Willock scored a crucial winner for Newcastle during their 3-2 win against West Ham on Saturday.
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