Arsenal: Selling Alex Iwobi gives youth a better chance

Selling Alex Iwobi couldn’t have been an easy decision for Arsenal, but despite his own youth, his departure gives youth a better chance to thrive.

Transfer deadline day, for the first time in ages, actually turned out to be pretty crazy. Arsenal managed to sign David Luiz and Kieran Tierney, and all at no cost, since they sold Alex Iwobi to Everton for a fee near £40m.

It couldn’t have been an easy sale, and as fans, we’re torn. Iwobi was still young, he has a ton of talent, and you have to question the motivation a bit, but when you consider the price we got, it has to make sense.

More than that, though, when you look at what it provides for the new youth at the club, it makes more sense.

Iwobi was one of the few left-sided attackers at the club, but in the several years he’s had to solidify himself, he’s largely failed. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.

There comes a time when all youth players need to make that next step into being reliable senior members, and I wasn’t getting the impression that Iwobi was getting any closer. Nor were the men in charge, either.

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We can’t keep hoping his potential will pay off.

Instead, we can hope in the potential of 17-year-old Bukayo Saka and 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli, both of whom are over five years younger than Iwobi and both of whom can use the Nigerian’s departure as an opportunity to step into a bigger role themselves.

You don’t have an unlimited window of opportunity when you make the move from youth to senior team, and Iwobi found that out. Now we have to see if Saka and Martinelli can do what Iwobi was never able to do and complete that next step in their careers.

Frankly, despite the hype around Iwobi on his way up, the hype around Saka and Martinelli looks even more substantial, and more obvious as well. Each time they take the pitch, they improve. I couldn’t believe how much better Saka looked after just a handful of appearances and Martinelli hasn’t even gotten that far yet.

These two are simply more exciting and more sensible to give an opportunity to than Iwobi, who hasn’t been able to put it together. And maybe he will at Everton, in which case, good for him. But for a price like that, you can’t say no.