Arsenal are set to lose a defender who is unimpressed with his lack of game time for the Gunners.
Manager Mikel Arteta has stuck with his tried-and-tested preferred line-ups this season, often failing to rest key players during busy runs of fixtures. Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, William Saliba and Declan Rice have powered on through, with Benjamin White playing with injury.
Fringe stars such as Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah have, as a result, failed to see many minutes, with some fans criticising the Arsenal boss in an otherwise excellent season.
Now, the Athletic have reported that academy graduate Reuell Walters will not be remaining in N5 beyond this summer – which has worried some fans who believe that the club are failing to provide adequate opportunities coming through the system since improving on the pitch.
The Hale End defender has been frequently included on the bench by Arteta but hasn't been trusted to play a single minute of senior football. The likes of Myles Lewis-Skelley, Amario Cozier-Duberry and Lino Sousa have found their pathway to the first-team difficult, too, with the north Londoners' title charge limiting squad players to cameos.
In FourFourTwo's view, this is an unfortunate by-product of Arsenal competing for trophies these days – and one that will upset a few fans – but understandable given the context of Arsenal's season.
Arteta handed a senior debut to Charles Sagoe Jr in the League Cup win against Brentford earlier this season, though used the fixture more as an opportunity for the wider squad to gain minutes. He would have perhaps played more youngsters throughout cup competitions, had Arsenal not drawn difficult fixtures in West Ham United and Liverpool.
The Basque boss's commitment to integrating younger talents has been proven with the Premier League's youngest-ever star Ethan Nwaneri getting a cameo off the bench away to West Ham in the league this season, while 14-year-old Max Dowman has trained with the first-team, as part of a plan to 'fast-track' his development.
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