Old tweets can come back to bite, but not this time. This time, digging into his past made them love Charlie Patiño even more: for who he could be and always was, already an icon in A Coruña where he hadn’t lived before and hasn’t played yet but which is home.
If you’re wondering why a generational talent Arsenal’s head scout described as the best to walk through the academy doors has joined a club that spent the past four years in Spain’s third tier, look online. You might find part of the answer in a picture of him, aged 10. In his posts, the things he said years ago. And in what he says now, a calm, analytical clarity and determination making sense of it all.
There are posts dedicated to Carlos Valerón, Jacques Songo’o and Deportivo de La Coruña winning the league a moment he’s too young to have seen but has heard all about. There are Vamos Depors, Forza Depors, even a celebration of Galician Literature Day. There’s a photo, resurfacing this summer, of Patiño in a Depor T-shirt and a Depor scarf. There’s no face paint there; in one of his grandfather Juan, framed in St Albans, there is.
Born in Watford, as a kid Patiño was a Manchester United fan, a regular at Luton and the future of Arsenal but A Coruña always called, Deportivo his team too. “It was a no brainer in the end,” he says, sitting in a first-floor office at their training ground in Abegondo, up the hills and along winding lanes south of the city that was his family’s home and is his now. “I’d been at Arsenal a long time, I kind of sniffed what things would be like. I wanted to experience a new chapter. The time was right. Now living in A Coruña I’m loving it.”
Galicia is a land of émigrés, identity forged through absence and nostalgia. Between 1857 and 1930 over a million people left, mostly for South America. Another wave departed for Europe in the 1960s and 70s, over 200,000 to the UK, among them Patiño’s grandparents Juan and Matucha. His father, Julio, was born and raised in London, married Newcastle-born Katy, but the connection to the old country remained.
“Jules” went to a Spanish school, visited Galicia every summer, and followed Deportivo, present on the final day in 1994 when Miroslav Djukic’s missed penalty cost them the title. “He told me about Djalminha, the league win in 2000,” says Patiño, born three years later, and while the Super Depor days had gone by then, together they watched games at the Centro Galego near Kensal Green and on holidays sat in the Riazor stands. Next time Julio goes, against Eldense on Saturday, Charlie will be down on the pitch.
“My dad was always a Depor fan. My abuelo [grandfather] was a massive fan. So I grabbed the opportunity with both hands,” he says.
The heart has reasons that reason doesn’t understand, it’s said. But Patiño had reasons too. Listening to the awareness, the thoughtfulness, with which he discusses the personal and sporting development that brought him here and still lies before him, it is clear that he always does. “There were things to weigh up, pros and cons. You can’t just take the first option,” he says. Even climate was a consideration, not for the sun but the rain, perfect football conditions. There was inspiration too in Andrés Iniesta, Santi Cazorla and Cesc Fàbregas.
“I wanted to try Spanish football, which suits my style and to hear about Depor, which runs in the family, was perfect. It was living here too. My dad showed me a map, what to expect. I had been when I was young: memories came back. I have family here. Twenty of us met recently. I hadn’t seen them for years. My dad has old mates here; at my age he’d go to Orzán beach.”
You can see Riazor rising up from Orzán, drawing you in, but it remains an unexpected destination. Invariably described as a wonder kid, Patiño joined Arsenal at 11, was England youth captain, seemingly predestined to be the one, with all that entails. “I was that player at Arsenal,” he admits. “I had to be smart, grounded, focus on education. Few make it. Others were older, faster, stronger, but what I had over them was intelligence, which kept me playing two, three years up throughout my time at Arsenal. You have to believe in your ability. It was about training, delivering, not getting distracted by outside things like jealousy, pressure, this or that … Whether asked to play with the 15s, 16s or 18s, I was always ready, working my socks off.”
One day, “a strange but amazing day”, Patiño was asked to play for the first team. It was December 2021, shortly after his 18th birthday. A late sub wearing No 87, a huge cheer greeted an arrival long anticipated. An even bigger one followed when he scored.
“At first I wasn’t in the squad,” he recalls. “The second coach called home. I was excited, thinking it would be a good experience rather than expecting to come on. I remember a message from [Alexandre] Lacazette: ‘Listen, you’re going to be a top player, just keep working hard, stay focused.’ They made me welcome. You’re an academy player, they’re first-team players. But if you think you’re a kid, act like a kid, play like a kid, it’s not going to end well. If you play like you’re part of it, everyone will trust you.”
“I did a dodgy knee slide, the players came, and I looked up to my family. My sister was at my mum’s parents’, recording it: they cried. I had loads of messages. But I didn’t want to get too high or too low. The next day I was up at half-seven for training. After that I started against Forest, a really good experience, then I was on the bench five, six times: Newcastle, Norwich, Everton …”
It was, Mikel Arteta said, a “beautiful moment” but it wasn’t the beginning many anticipated. Almost three years passed. There were 72 Championship games on loan at Blackpool and Swansea, valuable and sometimes difficult lessons, experience accumulated – managerial instability, a different football, a request to a coach reluctant to use loanees: ‘Let me play’ – but none for Arsenal, career paused on eleven minutes.
“Academy football and first-team football are two different things,” Patiño says. “Academy football, everyone plays. First-team football is ruthless. They have to win. You’re in the squad. You’re out the squad. You’re in the eleven. You’re not in the eleven. It kills some people mentally. That’s why psychologists are in the game.” Did you ever think maybe this wasn’t for you, then? “No. I’ve always loved the game, played with a smile; there are tough moments but when it’s good it’s the best feeling.
“It’s just about timing really,” Patiño says. “And the timing wasn’t meant to be at Arsenal.”
He spoke to academy staff and Arteta, aware that opportunities were limited, particularly with Arsenal chasing a Premier League title that demands perfection. “I kind of knew,” he says and so, with a season left on his contract, a decision was made to depart, joining Deportivo for £1m on a four-year deal.
“It is what it is. Some don’t get what they want and go and thrive somewhere else and that’s OK. You get in two ways. The first is through ability, performing well, training well, impressing. The other is injuries: you’re called up, play well, get asked again. Merit or luck. Well, not luck, but opportunity, out of your control.”
“I don’t have any regrets. I just feel sometimes I wanted to be involved more. I felt I didn’t really get the communication or pathway I wanted or felt I deserved. But that’s life. And [even] if that door doesn’t open, you’re bettering yourself, giving yourself a better opportunity to play at a high level. Arsenal are not the only football club in the world. There are hundreds of teams competing at the highest level.”
Sitting 17th in the second division, Deportivo may not appear to be one of them. But after the long fall, they were promoted in May and a primera return is the ambition, Patiño’s arrival part of that: a move he knows disappointed in London but delighted in A Coruña. One of England’s great promises had gone; now he was coming here. Better still, he was one of them.
Life is good, the seafood better, and the language getting there. Patiño’s teacher helps although the past tense is hard. Galician Netflix series help too. Some on-field stuff he already knew from Arsenal’s Spaniards. And swearwords were mastered years ago: his mum knows those. He has played only ten minutes, yet to appear at Riazor, but the football is not far behind, he trusts.
“I was aware of the hype and that comes with pressure,” he says. “I’m here for one job. Depor have history and I spoke to my family about getting back into the first division. We’re not where we want to be yet but trust the team. I want to light up this league, perform week in week out. Who knows what happens next?”
Arsenal again? Would you go back? “I would never say never. Who knows the future. What I do know is I’ve moved on to a new chapter, my focus is Depor. I’m still very young. Now I want to show what I can do here. I’ve been watching, analysing. This is my game: pass and move, drive, create. Simple. Effective. Brilliant basics. Don’t overcomplicate but play with intent. I’m new; when I get my chance, I’m going to take it. It’s patience, timing. Wait, be ready. Watching games I think: ‘I want to play. I’m going to cause some damage.’”
This Thursday was Patiño’s birthday. He turned 21, a lifetime ahead. As a baby he was given a Deportivo shirt; this weekend, he will be too, a family dream going back three generations. Sadly, abuelo Juan passed away just before his return home. How proud Julio will be when his son plays at Riazor. “My dad is proud of me all the time,” he says. “Through the highs and the lows.”
