By Tony Attwood
While most clubs have problems finding eight home grown players to fit into the list that makes up the 25 permitted players aged over 21, Arsenal’s problem this summer is in whittling down the number of over 21s to 25. My earlier post suggested only a modest bit of pruning has to go on, but data supplied by Andrew, who keeps a track of such things, suggest that there is more of an issue than I thought.
In fact, as the list below shows, Arsenal now have 37 over 21 year olds. I have set out the full list below and indicated in orange the players that I think could be removed from the squad. Most I suspect will be sold but some may be loaned.
| No | Player | Contract Expiry | International Registration | Squad No | Position | First Team Squad | Home Grown |
| 1 | Aaron Ramsey | 6/30/2019 | Wales | 8 | Mid | Y | Y |
| 2 | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | 6/30/2018 | England | 15 | Mid | Y | Y |
| 3 | Carl Jenkinson | 6/30/2018 | England | 25 | RB | Y | Y |
| 4 | Danny Welbeck | 6/30/2019 | England | 23 | Forward | Y | Y |
| 5 | Emiliano Martinez | 6/30/2021 | Argentina | 26 | GK | Y | Y |
| 6 | Francis Coquelin | 6/30/2021 | France | 34 | DM | Y | Y |
| 7 | Jack Wilshere | 6/30/2018 | England | 10 | Mid | Y | Y |
| 8 | Kieran Gibbs | 6/30/2018 | England | 3 | LB | Y | Y |
| 9 | Matt Macey | 6/30/2018 | England | 54 | GK | Y | |
| 10 | Theo Walcott | 6/30/2019 | England | 14 | Forward | Y | Y |
| 11 | Wojciech Szczesny | 6/30/2018 | Poland | 1 | GK | Y | Y |
| 12 | Calum Chambers | 6/30/2020 | England | 21 | CB | Y | Y |
| 13 | Chuba Akpom | 6/30/2019 | England | 32 | Forward | Y | Y |
| 14 | Cohen Bramall | 6/30/2018 | England | 85 | LB | Y | |
| 15 | Deyan Iliev | Macedonia | 50 | GK | Y | ||
| 16 | Glen Kamara | Finland | 47 | DM | Y | ||
| 17 | Hector Bellerin | 6/30/2023 | Spain | 24 | RB | Y | Y |
| 18 | Jon Toral | Spain | 57 | CM | Y | ||
| 19 | Rob Holding | 6/30/2020 | England | 16 | CB | Y | Y |
| 20 | Alexis Sanchez | 6/30/2018 | Chile | 7 | Forward | Y | N |
| 21 | David Ospina | 6/30/2019 | Colombia | 13 | GK | Y | N |
| 22 | Gabriel | 6/30/2019 | Brazil | 5 | CB | Y | N |
| 23 | Granit Xhaka | 6/30/2021 | Switzerland | 29 | CM | Y | N |
| 24 | Joel Campbell | 6/30/2018 | Costa Rica | 28 | Forward | Y | N |
| 25 | Laurent Koscielny | 6/30/2020 | France | 6 | CB | Y | N |
| 26 | Lucas Pérez | 6/30/2020 | Spain | 9 | Forward | Y | N |
| 27 | Mathieu Debuchy | 6/30/2018 | France | 2 | RB | Y | N |
| 28 | Mesut Özil | 6/30/2018 | Germany | 11 | Mid | Y | N |
| 29 | Mohamed Elneny | 6/30/2020 | Egypt | 35 | Mid | Y | N |
| 30 | Nacho Monreal | 6/30/2019 | Spain | 18 | LB | Y | N |
| 31 | Olivier Giroud | 6/30/2019 | France | 12 | Forward | Y | N |
| 32 | Per Mertesacker | 6/30/2018 | Germany | 4 | CB | Y | N |
| 33 | Petr Cech | 6/30/2018 | Czech Republic | 33 | GK | Y | N |
| 34 | Santi Cazorla | 6/30/2018 | Spain | 19 | Mid | Y | N |
| 35 | Shkodran Mustafi | 6/30/2021 | Germany | 20 | CB | Y | N |
| 36 | Takuma Asano | 6/30/2020 | Japan | Forward | Y | N | |
| 37 | Saad Kolasinac | 6/30/2022 | Bosnia | Y | N |
In that list I have removed two goalkeepers (Macey and Ospina), in the belief that Szczesny will return to the club. With regret I’ve moved out Campbell as he didn’t seem to set the League alight last season with Sporting. Takuma Asano doesn’t yet have permission to play in England. Sadly I have included Chuba Akpom in the list of those leaving as I thought before his injury he was really coming on well last season – but unless he has come on leaps and bounds, he’s not going to force his way into the squad.
Of course all this does is get us back to 25 players of whom 11 are home grown, which means that for anyone new to join the 25 we have to get rid of someone on the list above, although we can exchange up to three home grown players for foreign players without any concern.
Then there are the under 21s. All of these players are home grown, a good pointer for the future, and any of them could play for the club next season without any impact on the “25”.
Picking youth players who will step up is hard, but I would say that subject to injury, and assuming that they are not overcome by a desire to play in a first team regularly now, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Alex Iwobi (already there of course), Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Reiss Nelson and Chris Willock could all find a place. The latter though has not signed a new contract however and might be off.
| No | Player | Contract Expiry | International Registration | Squad No | Position | Home Grown |
| 1 | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | England | 55 | CM/Wing | Y | |
| 2 | Alex Iwobi | 6/30/2020 | Nigeria | 17 | Forward/MF | Y |
| 3 | Ben Sheaf | England | 65 | CM | Y | |
| 4 | Chris Willock | 6/30/2017 | England | 68 | CM/Wing | Y |
| 5 | Dan Crowley | England | 38 | AM | Y | |
| 6 | Gedion Zelalem | USA | 40 | Mid | Y | |
| 7 | Jeff Reine-Adelaide | 6/30/2020 | France | 31 | Forward | Y |
| 8 | Krystian Bielik | Poland | 37 | Mid | Y | |
| 9 | Marc Bola | England | 38 | CB/LB | Y | |
| 10 | Reiss Nelson | England | 76 | Forward | Y | |
| 11 | Stephy Mavididi | England | 57 | Forward | Y | |
| 12 | Tafari Moore | England | 51 | RB | Y | |
| 13 | Tolaji Bola | England | 39 | CB/LB | Y | |
| 14 | Vlad Dragomir | Romania | 43 | CM | Y | |
| 15 | Yassin Fortune | France | 45 | Forward | Y |
So the betting has to be that of the 12 players who are highlighted in the over 21 list a fair number will be sold and the rest will be out on loan.
But of course that just takes us back to 25. Bring in any more over 21 year olds and then more players from that top list will go. I guess Per Mert might be next despite his brilliant performance in the cup final – if so let’s hope he stays as a coach to pass on his knowledge to others.
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Just had a quick look down at the 1st team squad and 14 players are out of contract at the end of next year.
Including some of our best players, that doesn’t look good to me.
Why don’t we try and sign these players up earlier?
If we signed them earlier, people wouldn’t have anything to complain about.
—
Tony wrote an article about the England U20 winning the U20 World Cup. While it is true that Maitland-Niles was part of that team and came on in the final as a substitute, it seems that very few articles about the England U20 team and that final game actually mention Maitland-Niles.
lucas perez is leaving…you and every other arsenal fan on the planet know this
Might want to move Sanchez from there as well….
Do they mention all of the of the other players that played? It’s not often players get a real mention in a report unless they contributed with a goal or an assist during the game.
I didn’t look for that.
Sometimes, you see an article on a tournament final, and it is just that game. Other times, it rolls in other stuff from the tournament.
And then there are the odd articles, where the title talks about a particular game, but the article is only 3 sentences long and it summarises every game in the universe that day.
Arkos, your ability as a mindreader leaves something to be desired. I suggest you don’t apply for that sort of job at a fairground.
Szczesny going to Juve but will need to be replaced by new 3rd choice keeper (possibly from within).
Chambers required for cover at CB especially if sticking with 3 at back (given injury record – Gabriel still crocked)
Perez (unloved) gone.
Walcott & Wiltshire (big salaries & lost place/loaned so already deemed surplus to requirement) likely to be let go/pushed out once ‘big name’ (no giggling) new recruits have been secured
Which with Kolasinac brings Wenger up to his magic 2-3 signings pa limit
I think Rob Holding’s near excellent performance for Arsenal last season when he was called upon to play when there was shortage of centrebacks personnel in the Arsenal’s back three should be rewarded early with a contract extension by two more years. His current deal runs until 2020 i.e. in 3 years time before it will expire.
By the way, Apart of Ashely Cole, which other Arsenal Under21 or youth player from the Arsenal academy schools has made it to the top level of the game and remained playing at the top save Jack Wilshere who looks he could be the second graduate Gunner from the Arsenal academy schools that made it to the top in recent times. But he hasn’t look he’ll stay playing at the top level for long due to his continuing picking up injuries unabated. Oxchambo who of recent scored a goal for England against Scoland in a world cup qualifier in Scotland looks to be another Arsenal’s youth school graduate that has made it to the top but he has to keep fit and remain fit and maintain consistency at the top level of the game to remain playing there at the top always. I think Theo Walcott is another Arsenal’s youth schools graduate who can be said has made it to the top level of the game at one time for country. But since Danny Rose of Tottenham Hotspurs gave him an ACL at the Ems in an FA Cup tie, he has receded from being top for country to become lowly top for club.
Then, which next youth or Arsenal academy schools graduate should be counted on to make it to the top level of the game for club and country at the senior level? Iwobi? I don’t think he’s serious enough to be counted upon. For, he has appeared to have put enjoyment first before hard work to first make it before he can start flitring with enjoyment. He flopped for the Super Eagles of Nigeria at Uyo against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa last Saturday when Nigeria lost 0-2 to South Africa in an Afcon qualifier. Where as, the Super Eagles have never lost a competitive match to the Bafana bafana for the 25 years the Bafana Bafana started playing against the Super Eagles. I think the Nigerian football federation president, Amaju Pinnik and the Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr should all resign or be fired by the Nigerian government through it’s Sport Minister irrespective of any opposition to their sacking by Fifa if they fail to resign. Should the government and the Sports ministry fail to take decisive action on Amaju Pinnik and Gernot Rohr, Nigeria may not qualify again for the third time running to play in the next Fifa world cup tourney in Russia and in the Afcon tourney taking place in Cameroun.
Gord, i think AMN had an injury in the third game and subsequently didn’t feature much
Thanks Oleg.
That would explain him only coming on as a substitute. It doesn’t explain why all the other young Lions are full of promise and worth writing about in terms of winning the final, and why he should be ignored.
I hope his Mom doesn’t go beat up all the sports people. Not that they don’t deserve it. But she just might do it. I hope she is proud. Her son is doing well.
Hi Tony great write up but I think holding and Bramall still count as u21 as they only turned 21 after 1st January this year according to fa rules.
Why is my comment still awaiting moderation bs didn’t know we were in the US
Gord – 12/06/2017 at 2:47 pm –
‘If we signed them earlier, people wouldn’t have anything to complain about.’
Gets my vote for the best comeback retort of the close season !
It fully , truly and properly encapsulates the stupidity that abounds in most of those moronic posters that tens to infest this blog.
And I’m sure most of them are very , very poor poker players ! And obviously very poor negotiators.
Leeroy, if you read the comments page you’ll see that we do have fairly strict rules on what we publish and much of it is done automatically. I have checked back and looked, and yours was knocked out because you used an unflattering nickname for one of our players. This is something that is often done by supporters of other clubs who come on here with their anti-Arsenal message, and by members of the aaa who bring in an anti-Wengerian message. Anyone who comes on and debates without abuse or name calling is generally published, but because of the automatic nature of the system (given the huge numbers of comments we get each day) can always mean that you can get caught out.
Tony unless your name is menace who can get away with saying and abusing anyone he wants and gets away with it.
I have a sneaky feeling that maybe Tony and Menace are the same person. It would make perfect sense as why else would a poster who breaks all untolds rules gets to continue on here to abuse, ridicule and threaten other posters without so much as a warning. I suppose though someone who blames every defeat arsenal have ever had on referees and deflects the blame from our manager is someone who is valued on this tin pot site.
Always trust your ‘sneaky feelings ‘ -they often get you very far . Maybe not in the direction you would have wanted and probably not far enough for others !