Arsenal’s Hale End Academy could be their saving grace

In a period where Arsenal are struggling with results and finances, the sheer quality of their Hale End Academy products could reverse their fortunes.

Whether you’re an Arsenal fan or not, witnessing their harsh decline over the last 5 years or so has been surprising, grim, and a little bit disheartening. The once great north London club who would once compete for the Premier League on a perennial basis has dwindled down into mediocrity, missing out on the Champions League for a 3rd consecutive season. While their poor results didn’t affect too much initially, consecutive years of failure have been detrimental to their off-the-field operations, now denting their transfer budget and diminishing their image in world football.

While Arsenal are no longer capable of attracting the best players in the world, the quality of the youngsters coming out of their Hale End academy is giving them assets that they can utilize over the coming years, to get themselves back to where they belong.

Now, the way they use these academy products can and will vary from player to player. If you take a look at how the model English club at the moment, Liverpool, utilizes their youth prospects, they’ve incorporated some into the first team, loaned out others that they feel can grow into first team players, and sold the excess for good fees.

This is exactly the route that Arsenal needs to take with their up-and-coming stars.

Some of them will surely be good enough to crack the first-team squad, such as Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka, but others will struggle to find their place, and the Gunners mustn’t be afraid to sell them onto gain profit.

This is easier said than done however, as Arsenal have been a very poor selling team for quite some time, especially with youngsters. France U21 international Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Bayern Munich star Serge Gnabry are perfect examples of youngsters sold for less than half of their true worth. Therefore, for Arsenal to make the best of their Hale End stars, they must choose which ones to sell, and sell them efficiently.

The ones that are good enough to become starters at the club however, will likely save them tens of millions in the transfer market. For a club like Arsenal who are strapped for cash at the moment, it’s a relieving asset to fall back on should they require it.

The likes of Xavier Amaechi, Tyreece John-Jules, Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka, Zech Medley, and Jordi Osei-Tutu headline the Gunners’ upcoming generation, and it will be intriguing to see which ones make it at Arsenal, and which ones make their name elsewhere.