A young prospect left a club. Not so uncommon news these days, especially considering the competition among youngsters where only the most capable and luckiest ones get the chance to become professionals. However, one particular departure raised dust around Arsenal and specifically their boss, Mikel Arteta, who was indirectly accused of not giving enough chances to young players, who then opted to leave the club in pursuit of playing time.🚨 BREAKING: 16-year-old Chido Obi Martin completed his move from Arsenal to Manchester United. [@FabrizioRomano]Ruud van Nistelrooy played a critical role in getting the deal done. pic.twitter.com/VeeZemO0Xj— Football View Hub (@FootballViewHub) July 30, 2024 The last case of this sort – Chido Obi-Martin’s decision to reject Arsenal’s offer and move no less than to Manchester United – raised the temperature around Emirates Stadium. Namely, the 16-year-old scored 29 goals in 17 appearances for the U-18 team last season, recording, by the way, five hat-tricks in nine matches. Stats that promise a lot and no wonder Obi-Martin was considered a gem in North London.Together with Arteta again!? Hm, that would be (in)SaneAnyway, the forward chose to part ways with his boyhood club, and the Arsenal boss emerged as the main culprit in the public and among the Gunners’ fans. Obi-Martin allegedly didn’t see his future at Emirates as bright as at Old Trafford, especially considering the examples of Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith-Rowe, who were pronounced the future team leaders and now are close to leaving the club.In addition, the stats show that Arsenal, i.e. Arteta, gave only 13 minutes to teenagers in the 2023/2024 season, putting Arsenal in the 17th spot in the entire league in this respect! The only “worse” were Nottingham Forest, with seven minutes, and Luton and Tottenham, with no single minute on the pitch granted to teenagers.🚨🚨| Total minutes played by teenagers in 2023/24 Premier League season. pic.twitter.com/VHVeqsnLn6— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) July 30, 2024 Arsenal’s youth categories are outstanding and have provided numerous high-quality players for the first team like Bukayo Saka or Wojciech Szczesny, but then there’s the other side of the medal – those who left and found their luck somewhere else, such as Harry Kane, Michael Olise, or Serge Gnabry.The Gunners cannot let such talents and prospects leave the club so early without even debuting for the senior squad, and that’s why they hope at Emirates that Obi-Martin’s case won’t happen again. Even Arteta relented and gave a somewhat more significant role to the 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, who shone brightly in pre-season games. The Spaniard cannot make more bad judgements because those youngsters who leave early could return later and haunt the club like ghosts of the past in other teams’ jerseys.##NAJAVA_MECA_8245955##
