In recent weeks, Arsenal have let two of their highly talented academy stars leave the club on free transfers. Amario Cozier-Duberry and Reuell Walters have joined Brighton and Luton Town respectively after their contracts with the Gunners expired.
The Gunners could regret this decision if both players go on to have successful careers like others after leaving the club. There is no doubt that Arsenal have seen some standout players come through the academy into the first team over the years, but they have also let some go.
There are three that stand out as the worst mistakes by Arsenal’s academy. This list does not take into account players who were once part of the academy but were not old enough to play for the first team, so players such as Harry Kane will not be included.
Many fans seem to forget that Andy Cole was part of Arsenal’s academy at the start of his successful career. The striker signed as a professional in 1989 but only made two appearances for the first team.
In 1992, Cole left the Gunners to sign for Bristol City, before moving on to Newcastle and then Manchester United. With the latter club, Cole enjoyed a trophy-laden career and is the fourth-highest scorer in Premier League history, with 187 goals in England’s top flight.
It is unlikely that Cole would have been given any opportunities compared to the likes of Alan Smith and new arrival Ian Wright at Arsenal, but looking at his career there is no doubt that letting him leave was an error of judgement on the part of the club.
Serge Gnabry was part of Arsenal’s youth system for just one year before making his first-team debut in 2012. He scored one goal in 18 appearances for the club. Following an unsuccessful loan spell with West Bromwich Albion, he was sold to Werder Bremen in 2016 for £5m.
A year later he signed for Bayern Munich and has enjoyed an incredibly successful career with the German giants, winning five Bundesliga titles, a Champions League and a handful of cups. Gnabry returned to north London in 2019, scoring four goals in a 7-2 win over Tottenham. He then came back to haunt Arsenal last season when he scored in Bayern’s 2-2 draw in the first leg of the UCL quarter-final.
Although he was considered unable to make it at Arsenal or in the Premier League, fans are now wondering what would have happened if Serge Gnabry had never left the club.
Arsenal signed 16-year-old Donyell Malen from Ajax in 2015 and he made a huge impact in the youth system, scoring 27 goals in 67 youth appearances for the Gunners.
Despite his exploits in the academy, Malen was never given a real chance to prove his worth within the Arsenal first team and was sold to PSV Eindhoven for an undisclosed fee in 2017. He won the Eredivisie in his debut season and scored 55 goals in 116 appearances for the Dutch side.
Malen joined Borussia Dortmund in 2021 for €30 million and has scored 34 goals in 111 appearances so far. He has also become an established international player, scoring nine goals in 36 appearances for the Netherlands and was also part of the team that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
Malen’s departure was undoubtedly a mistake by the club given the lack of opportunities he had to make an impact in the first team.
