Arsenal are currently reaping the rewards of the Hale End Academy, as several top talents made their way to the first team under Mikel Arteta.
Bukayo Saka is the club’s talisman and has been at Arsenal since he was just seven years old. He progressed through the ranks before joining the first-team squad alongside Emile Smith Rowe.
Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson are also products of the academy in the first-team squad, but it now appears that the pair, Smith Rowe and Charlie Patino could all be on the chopping block this summer.
They will not be the first former Hale End prodigies to depart North London in recent years. Folarin Balogun completed a big-money move to Monaco last summer, and given his struggles there, Arsenal have been justified in their decision to let him go.
However, there is one exit which may still cause some frustration at the club two years after it happened. Talented winger Omari Hutchinson made a shock move to Chelsea in 2022, and Arsenal have lost out in more ways than one.
Former Arsenal winger Omari Hutchinson could leave Chelsea for Ipswich Town
Hutchinson spent this season on loan at Ipswich Town, who were promoted from the Championship under Kieran McKenna.
The 20-year-old was outstanding, scoring 10 and assisting six times in 44 league games, and he played a huge part in their historic promotion.
Football.London have now reported that Ipswich want to keep Hutchinson, and are preparing a bid of around £20m to convince Chelsea to part ways.
Arsenal will be annoyed that they not only lost a huge Hale End talent to a rival for a nominal fee, but that they could have made a huge profit on him even if he did not eventually join Arteta’s first-team.
Arsenal must make better use of loan system to avoid Omari Hutchinson repeat
Hutchinson has made just two senior appearances for Chelsea, but they now stand to make a huge profit because the youngster impressed out on loan.
Ipswich are interested in Hutchinson as he is a winger who delivered for them last season, and has a whole year of regular football under his belt.
The same cannot be said for Nelson or Smith Rowe, and despite both being far more established players than Hutchinson, Arsenal may be faced with the reality that neither may attract a higher fee.
Arsenal’s failure to keep Hutchinson and loan him out themselves has now meant they are losing out on a big transfer windfall, and keeping the likes of Nelson and Smith Rowe, who have been starved of minutes, has harmed their value in the same way as Aaron Ramsdale, in comparison to their former teammate.