Arsenal has lost a gem ‘more outstanding’ than Nwaneri.

While Ethan Nwaneri is shining bright to become the next pride of the Hale End academy, Arsenal has also just lost another valuable product from their youth system.

When coach Mikel Arteta agreed to take the managerial role at Emirates Stadium in December 2019, the Spanish coach immediately integrated a group of standout Hale End academy graduates such as Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and Reiss Nelson as the core of the club for the future.

In nearly five years of management, Arteta has gradually revived Arsenal, helping the North London club escape the post-Arsene Wenger slump and regain its position as a major force in English football, competing for the Premier League title on equal terms with Manchester City and Liverpool over the past two seasons.

In this journey of reviving Arsenal, Saka has played an irreplaceable role as the right winger. In fact, the Englishman is now regarded as one of the best wingers in the Premier League and the player with the highest transfer valuation in the Gunners’ squad.

But unlike Saka’s rapid career progression, the other three names in the group of four standout Hale End products mentioned above have faded, with their talent waning for various reasons. Consequently, all three had to pack their bags and leave Emirates this past summer to join mid-tier Premier League clubs in search of playing opportunities.

One generation of Hale End talent in Arsenal’s first team is gradually fading into obscurity, but Arteta hasn’t taken long to shape another core group of new gems, led by Nwaneri.

In fact, the 17-year-old midfielder made headlines by setting the record as the youngest player to appear in a Premier League match during Arsenal’s 3-0 victory at Brentford in the 2022/23 season.

Before making his first-team debut, Nwaneri was already a phenomenon in English youth football. Born in 2007, he appeared in a total of 52 matches for the London club’s youth teams, scoring 27 goals and providing 10 assists. This means, on average, Nwaneri contributed directly to 1.4 goals per game for his team.

These impressive numbers made it impossible for Arteta to overlook Nwaneri. After that historic day at Gtech Community Stadium, the young Englishman has been given several opportunities by the 42-year-old manager in Premier League and Champions League matches. In his first start for the first team against Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup third round last week, Nwaneri truly set Emirates Stadium alight.

Playing the full 90 minutes, Nwaneri scored a brace against the League One team and was rated 8.3 by Sofascore after the match, second only to Declan Rice.

Arteta is doing everything possible to help Nwaneri elevate his game and become a true star like Saka. However, seeing how Arteta is nurturing and assisting Nwaneri, many Arsenal fans may feel regret for striker Chido Obi-Martin, who, according to Football Fancast, is regarded as having no less potential than Nwaneri at Hale End in recent years.

Numerous reputable European newspapers reported this past summer that Obi-Martin has left Arsenal to join Manchester United’s Carrington academy. The young Danish star proactively rejected Arsenal’s contract extension offer as he sought an earlier opportunity to challenge himself in top-tier football, something Arsenal couldn’t provide.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed that all formalities for Obi-Martin’s transfer to Manchester United are nearly complete, and the Red Devils are expected to officially announce the transfer in the coming days.

Obi-Martin spent two years at Hale End, during which time the 16-year-old dominated English youth football with incredible goal-scoring efficiency. His most memorable moment was certainly his demolition of Liverpool’s U16 team with 10 goals.

Last season, after 24 appearances for Arsenal’s U18 and U21 teams, the 2007-born striker netted 32 goals and provided three assists for his teammates. Furthermore, in the Danish U17 national team, the Hale End goal machine scored 11 times in 18 matches.

Witnessing Obi-Martin’s unstoppable goal-scoring form, renowned European scout Jacek Kulig strongly affirmed that the Danish striker possesses greater development potential than Nwaneri and deserves a chance to play for Arsenal’s first team.

If we compare this to Arsenal’s current attacking lineup, particularly as Arteta has yet to find a perfect No. 9 capable of consistently providing goals, Obi-Martin’s move to a direct Premier League rival, Manchester United, gives Arsenal fans even more reason to criticize the club’s transfer decisions.

The North London club has lost a talented goal-scoring machine who could have saved them hundreds of millions of pounds in the transfer market, and it will be even more painful if, in the future, Obi-Martin himself scores against Arsenal while playing for Manchester United, much like how Robin van Persie broke the hearts of Emirates Stadium fans a decade ago.