Posing for a photo at Stansted Airport before their flight to America last Sunday, the Arsenal squad was full of beaming and youthful smiles.
Mikel Arteta has taken 12 academy players to the States for a tour which kicks off in the early hours of Thursday morning, when the Gunners take on Bournemouth in Los Angeles.
Midfielders Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, both 17, are two of the young prospects being tipped to make an impact, and centre-back Ayden Heaven, also 17, is another player knocking on the door of the first team.
The number of academy players with an opportunity to impress is in stark contrast to a year ago, when just one teenager travelled on the club’s pre-season tour, also to the US.
Senior starters having an extended break after the Copa America and Euro 2024 has opened the door for a talented group of young players, and the timing for Arsenal could not be better, given some of the scrutiny of their academy at the moment.
The recent exits of Amario Cozier-Duberry and Reuell Walters, who turned down professional contracts to join Brighton and Luton respectively, caught fans by surprise.
There was further shock last weekend when it emerged that 16-year-old striker Chido Obi-Martin, who scored 32 goals for Arsenal’s Under-18s side last season, including 10 in one match, had rejected scholarship terms and is set to leave, amid interest from Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
The optics of losing a promising player such as Obi-Martin are not good for Arsenal. The fear among fans is that talented young players are leaving because they do not see a pathway to the first team, with Arteta’s perceived reluctance to blood academy players a bone of contention.
The fear among Arsenal fans is that talented young players are leaving because they do not see a pathway to the first team
Arteta has shown a willingness to trust youth, and last season his starting XI was on average the third youngest in the Premier League. The early part of his tenure was built on the form of academy stars Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, while two seasons ago he made Nwaneri the youngest player in Premier League history by handing him his debut at 15.
Recently, however, blooding youngsters has become harder. When Arteta took over, young players were fighting to break into a team in mid-table. Now, they are trying to get into a side that Arteta said this week needs “perfection” to topple Manchester City in the title race.
Arsenal are aware that the level required has gone up, and it is why they have embarked on an aggressive recruitment drive at youth level.
England U20 goalkeeper Tommy Setford last week signed from Ajax for £1million, becoming the 10th player Arsenal have signed from U9 to U19 level in the past year. Setford was a coup for Arsenal, not least because Ajax believed he could be their future No1.
His decision to leave a club famed for blooding young players should give Arsenal staff validation for the work they are doing.
The dream for Arsenal, and every club, is that players such as Setford become household first-team names, but academies are also a vital source of income.
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In the past, Arsenal have failed to maximise the value of academy players, but they plan to make better use of the loan market to change that.
Mika Biereth was at Motherwell last season, but Arsenal moved him to Sturm Graz in January when they learned of the Austrian club’s interest. His loan was made permanent this summer for £4m, and Arsenal have a sell-on clause.
In the current climate of the Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules, deals like that are vital. But the primary thoughts of many of the 12 academy players who could feature in LA on Wednesday night will be forcing their way into first-team contention.
