Arsenal fans have been seething following Chido Obi Martin’s departure from the club. The highly-rated teenager is a Hale End product but has decided to continue his development elsewhere after a prolific two years on the books of the Gunners.
Even worse for the Arsenal faithful, Obi Martin is on the verge of joining rivals Manchester United, with an announcement imminent in the coming days.
In all fairness, the North London outfit did their best to convince the young attacker to stay. The 16-year-old, who impressively scored 32 goals in 18 matches last season, was offered a tempting offer by Arsenal to extend his contract but he turned it down, preferring to seek pastures new.
But while some fans have accused Chido Obi Martin of being ungrateful and choosing a bigger pay cheque elsewhere, the poor rate of progression for youngsters at Arsenal in recent years cannot be ignored.
Mikel Arteta’s record with youth players
There was a time, under Arsene Wenger, when players from Arsenal’s youth teams had a progressive route to the first team.
While Bukayo Saka still embodies that progression, he’s in the minority when you count the number of Hale End products who have had first-team opportunities under Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard has done very well to make the Gunners competitive again after finishing second in the Premier League in back-to-back seasons, but his track record of progressing the club’s youth players is not great.
There’s a school of thought that believes had Saka not already been embedded into the senior team by Unai Emery, he would’ve had limited opportunities to shine under Arteta. Indeed, since the Spaniard took charge, he has rarely given minutes to players from the academy even in dead rubbers.
The Arsenal boss can be credited with handing Ethan Nwaneri and Charles Sagoe Jr their senior debuts but he hasn’t empowered them since despite opportunities presenting themselves.
“The 6-0 (Champions League) home thumping of Lens – where Arsenal were 5-0 up by half time – saw Ben White, Jorginho, Jakub Kiwior, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson all brought on at some stage,” senior reporter Ben Knapton wrote in his column for Sports Mole. “Nwaneri and talented midfield product Myles Lewis-Skelly had to watch on from the bench.”
It was a similar occurrence during Arsenal’s final Champions League group game against PSV.
“Starts for Mohamed Elneny and Cedric Soares – who both left as free agents this summer – were fair enough given their experience,” Knapton conceded, “but bringing on the likes of White, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice for a dead rubber raised eyebrows, especially when Nwaneri and Reuell Walters were pining for a chance off the bench.”
Chido Obi Martin latest in long line of academy gems jumping ship
In light of the clear lack of trust in young players, Chido Obi Martin and his advisors cannot be faulted for looking out for themselves, given that many players have taken a similar route in recent years in search of game time.
Emile-Smith Rowe has moved over to London rivals Fulham while Eddie Nketiah is on the verge of joining Marseille. Similarly, Walters has swapped the Emirates for Luton Town, with Amario Cozier-Duberry also signing for Brighton.
Conversely, there seems to be a procedural transition of youth players into the first team at Manchester United, where the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho have had their breakthroughs under Erik ten Hag.
Arteta may have been right to stick to picking a competitive team at all times but the development of the Hale End products has suffered for it and the seeming lack of opportunities at Arsenal certainly played a huge role in Chido Obi Martin’s decision to leave the Gunners.
