How Arsenal are taking the fight to Chelsea and Man City in aggressive youth academy drive | OneFootball

Special report: Arsenal making ground in raging battle with Premier League rivals for best young talent as Per Mertesacker plan starts to take shape

Young Guns: Arsenal academy manager Per Mertesacker and Callan Hamill, Victor Ozhianvuna and Kyran Thompson

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It was a cold Wednesday night in Preston, but Per Mertesacker’s heart was warm.

Arsenal had just beaten the Championship side in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup last October and one of their academy graduates, Ethan Nwaneri, was the star of the show.

Just 17 at the time, Nwaneri had scored the second goal in a 3-0 win and at full-time he stood in front of the away fans soaking up the applause.

Fellow teenagers Ayden Heaven, Josh Nichols, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Tommy Setford joined him, and Mertesacker could not help but capture the moment.

Arsenal are trying to develop more players like Ethan Nwaneri

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Standing in the directors’ box at Deepdale, the Arsenal academy manager pulled out his iPhone and filmed the scene.

Almost a year on, Arsenal’s academy drive continues to accelerate.

Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri are now fully integrated into the first-team squad, both signing five-year contracts in the summer.

Max Dowman, only 15, has already made three first-team appearances. He was one of eight academy players on the pre-season tour of Asia, which was a source of huge pride for staff at Hale End.

There is growing excitement about the next wave of talent, too. Arsenal Under-16s won the Premier League Cup in May - the first time in the club’s history - and several players from that team have since signed scholarship terms.

Among them, there was a notable trend.

Mertesacker has said before that the Under-9s age group, when players can first sign for an academy, is the most important.

But Arsenal have also been recruiting aggressively in the higher age brackets. Of this year’s scholars, six of the 13 players joined Arsenal in 2022 or later.

It is evidence of a more assertive recruitment approach designed to compete with the two dominant academies in England, which are Chelsea and Manchester City.

Arsenal beat both clubs to the signing of winger Kyran Thompson from West Ham last year.

Kyran Thompson joined Arsenal from West Ham last year

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Still only 16, Thompson is already featuring for the Under-18s and trained with the first team last month.

Mishel Nduka is another talented prospect who has made the move across London and he announced on social media last month he had left Charlton to join Arsenal. He is playing for the Under-16s this season.

Chelsea and City have long been seen as the preferred destinations for elite young talent because of their track record in development.

Even those who do not make the first team often secure moves elsewhere in the Premier League or across Europe.

That is an area Arsenal want to improve - and they have shown they can.

Mika Biereth, signed from Fulham at 18, developed under Arsenal’s watch before earning a move to Monaco and a place in the Champions League.

A close working relationship between Arsenal’s first team and academy, forged by Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta, underpins all of this.

The ultimate goal is to produce players who can fill first-team needs. A few years ago, when Edu was still sporting director, academy coaches were even tasked with specifically developing left-footed centre-backs, which led to Heaven moving from midfield into defence.

Now, technical director James Ellis is playing a key role in long-term squad planning and homegrown development.

He is understood to have been central to the £1.7million deal for Shamrock Rovers midfielder Victor Ozhianvuna.

Victor Ozhianvuna will join Arsenal in January 2027 after he turns 18

Arsenal FC

The 16-year-old, who was attracting interest from Belgian side Club Brugge, will link up with Arsenal in January 2027.

Brexit rules prevent Ozhianvuna from joining earlier, players from EU clubs must now wait until they are 18, and it is one reason Arsenal are increasingly scouting Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Scotland Under-17s defender Callan Hamill was among this year’s new scholars, joining from St Johnstone. He spoke to Kieran Tierney before making the move south, and the former Arsenal full-back remains available for advice.

Callan Hamill was offered a scholarship deal by Arsenal in the summer

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Northern Ireland forward Ceadach O’Neill joined Arsenal in July last year after trials with Liverpool and Southampton.

He is unlikely to be the last. Arsenal have opened a development centre in Northern Ireland for players aged Under-12 to Under-15.

Phil Cowen, formerly of Rangers, was appointed last year to head up recruitment in the region and the club have partnered with GC Coaching, who help identify and nurture young footballers.

The partnership gives Arsenal a network of contacts and visibility below the Under-12s to Under-15s age groups, allowing them to spot talent even earlier.

Many in youth football expect Northern Ireland to become a hotspot for talent post-Brexit, and Arsenal have been quick to stake a claim.

Still, there is more to do.

Liverpool beat Arsenal to the signing of Salford City striker Will Wright this summer, while a deal for Blackburn Rovers midfielder Igor Tyjon never got over the line.

Midfielder Dan Casey also opted to continue his development at Crystal Palace, despite scoring 18 goals for Arsenal in the Under-18 Premier League South last season.

Those examples show that Arsenal’s youth recruitment project remains a work in progress.

But, after two years of decisive moves, there has been promising progress.