Arsenal: Can we stop bemoaning every ex-youth product?

Former Arsenal youngster Donyell Malen scored for the Netherlands in his international debut on Friday night. Typically, fans bemoaned his departure. Here is why such moans are unfounded.

Every single time a former Arsenal youngster goes on to have any semblance of success, there is an immediate outcry from the fans that the club was ghastly wrong in their assessment of the player and everyone should be fired for letting such a richly gifted player leave the club.

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Serge Gnabry is the obvious candidate, the German now a mainstay for Bayern Munich having been named their Player of the Season. Ismael Bennacer is also enjoying a renaissance in Italy, moving to AC Milan this summer for around £15 million, while Carlos Vela is currently the Lionel Messi of MLS.

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And now there is a new name to add to the growing list, Donyell Malen, who is presently the starting centre-forward for Marc van Bommel’s PSV, who finished only three points behind that wonderful Ajax team in last year’s Eredivise. His performances have not gone unnoticed on the international stage either. On Friday night, Malen made his debut for the Netherlands, scoring in a 4-2 win against Germany. That, predictably, has sent Arsenal fans into uproar.

How could the club let such a talented player walk out the door? How come he isn’t still in north London, with a raising profile, price tag and on-pitch production? Why were Arsenal so wrong about his potential? It is the same old questions when any former youth product excels away from the Emirates.

Malen did not spend long at Arsenal. He grew in the Ajax system. He then moved to Hale End at 16, when he could sign his first professional contract, following then academy director, Andries Jonker. But Malen did not settle well, fell out with Jonker, who swiftly left Hale End, and eventually left in 2017, returning to Holland, this time signing for PSV Eindhoven.

While still only 20 with a long way to go in his career, the jury is still out on whether the club did really let one slip here. But the early returns are not exactly promising. He has 15 goals and nine assists for Eindhoven, with four of those coming this season already.

Nevertheless, criticising the club because they could see the potential of an 18-year-old who had fallen out with the coaching staff and was struggling to settle is a little unfounded. Predicting the trajectory of young players is hard enough. To do with a fractious relationship is nigh on impossible.

So the next time a young starlet who the Gunners let leave starts to shine elsewhere, do not overly criticise the club. It is very difficult to predict the future of young talent. Sometimes you get it right — Matteo Guendouzi — and sometimes you get it wrong. That, sadly, is the nature of football.