Arsenal: Does youth have a future or is it all pointless?

Arsenal has a plethora of young talent, but they rarely get a minute of actual playing time. So do they have a future or has nothing really changed?

Whilst the rest of Europe watch their countries in action, Unai Emery has taken what remains of his Arsenal squad and a ton of youth players to Dubai for a bit of warm weather training and a friendly.

I think this should be a time when Emery needs to look at what young players he has at his disposal and decide if he sees futures for them at the club.

For the first time in a long time our academy is packed with players who look like they are going to have very bright futures in the game: Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka to name a few.

The question I’m asking, though, is Unai Emery bold and bright enough to give players like these a chance in the first team and let them thrive? Or is he going to continue the Arsenal trend of just playing them in Cup competitions and Europa League games until they realise they are wasting their time and are poached by another club and us fans are left thinking what if.

Other clubs are already watching, waiting to pounce. Especially in the Bundesliga, which has become the new breeding ground for young English talent and seeing the success that Jadon Sancho has made at Dortmund, any young player hoping for a future in football will jump at the chance if the opportunity comes, because currently they are not getting enough of one at Arsenal.

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Joe Willock, for example, has looked good whenever he has played this season in Cup competitions and has weighed in with a couple of goals, yet he’s not even considered for the subs bench, whilst Matteo Guendouzi who, although I rate him just as highly, is in the squad week in week out and that’s even if he doesn’t perform.

Anyone watching England U19s the other night saw how frighteningly good Bukayo Saka looked, and at 17 years old, he could be a very big player for the future. Although he made a cameo off the bench against Fulham in January he hasn’t been around the first team picture since and if you look at his stats for the academy teams, he should be at the very least getting more of a look in.

Another thing about Saka is that he is a natural winger – a position that the Arsenal first team squad have been looking to fill for a good chunk of the season – and when you see Emery publicly announcing that the team is short of wingers and it’s a position he will look to sign come the summer, it doesn’t exactly bode well for youth.

I also hope that Emile Smith-Rowe doesn’t become an afterthought. After his bright start earlier this season he didn’t really get a look in after he was injured and has been sent on a seemingly pointless loan.

I’m not going to criticise Unai Emery because I have been a fan of him this season and believe we are going to go on to good things with him, but I think he really needs to look at the talent that we have within the club and not just in the first team and maybe take a risk and utilise it a little bit more rather than turn his attention elsewhere. Manchester United had Marcus Rashford, who says the next big English talent can’t be at Arsenal.