As amazing as Arsenal‘s prestigious Hale End academy has been in recent years, producing the likes of Bukayo Saka and Max Dowman, the youth system has also been a curious case of unfulfilled talent.
Cast your mind back over a decade and Jack Wilshere’s story is pertinent in this case. He dominated Barcelona as a teenager, skipping beyond two of the greatest midfielders we’ve ever seen in the form of Xavi and Iniesta.
Yet, a horrendous mix of injuries led to English football’s next great hope losing form, fitness and sadly for Arsenal, his place in the team.
While Super Jack did return to the Gunners as a coach in the academy set-up, he was forced to retire early as a player. Now aged 34, he’s managing Luton Town but in an alternate reality, he’s still getting minutes at Arsenal. He was all set to be a club legend.
While there was not the same level of hype around Emile Smith Rowe, his tale at the Emirates Stadium ended in a similarly unfortunate manner.
What went wrong for Smith Rowe at Arsenal
Unai Emery did not get much right during his time in north London but to his credit, the Spaniard was the one who gave Smith Rowe and Saka their first-team debuts.
Indeed, Mikel Arteta has a lot to thank his fellow Spaniard for in that regard. Both Hale Enders were cornerstones of Arteta’s first few years in management and it would not be too extreme to suggest that they kept him in the job.
During Arteta’s first full year in the Arsenal hot seat, Smith Rowe registered seven goals and seven assists in 37 outings across all competitions.
The next campaign he was even better, becoming an England regular as he found the net ten times in 33 Premier League outings. Sadly, that was about as good as it got for the attacking midfielder in the capital.
The 2022/23 campaign was where it began to go wrong. Smith Rowe missed much of the opening half of the season with a groin injury and once he returned, his world had been turned upside down.
As the term came to a close, he had failed to start a single Premier League game. Martin Odegaard was now ahead of him in the pecking order and was producing the best numbers of his career. No midfielder scored more than the club captain’s 15 league goals that term.
Equally, Gabriel Martinelli enjoyed the best season of his career on the left, Smith Rowe’s other preferred role. The Brazilian also hit 15 goals across all competitions.
Smith Rowe did show promising signs when he got a chance, but ultimately, his best football was behind him. In 2023/24, Arteta selected him to start on just three occasions in the league. The season came to a close and it was a consecutive campaign in which the Englishman had failed to score. He now had the likes of Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz to compete for a spot too.
Arsenal’s squad depth as they attempted to challenge on four fronts was getting bigger and it was not a surprise when the academy graduate took his leave, joining Fulham in a £27m deal back in the summer of 2024.
Smith Rowe’s story is a cautionary tale to the current crop of young stars in Arteta’s ranks.
Arsenal academy graduate could become Smith Rowe 2.0
We’re now in 2026 and as Arsenal continue to fight for the biggest trophies in the game, their squad depth is the best in the country, perhaps even the best in European football. There is a reason they topped the league phase of the Champions League.
However, while that has undoubtedly boosted their hopes of ending a six-year trophy drought, it has dented the hopes of plenty of players in the squad.
The likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Eddie Nketiah, Aaron Ramsdale, Kieran Tierney and Smith Rowe have all fallen by the wayside in recent years but there’s a crop of talent with more potential than that who are struggling.
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All of their exits were understandable; they had no future at the Emirates. The same, however, cannot be said for Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, two victims of Arsenal’s increased squad depth.
While Lewis-Skelly has still started 12 games this term, it’s been a much harder campaign for Nwaneri. It’s been a remarkable change of fortunes for the teenager in the space of a year.
Indeed, a year ago Joe Cole was waxing lyrical over a performance from Arsenal’s dazzling youngster. As the Gunners defeated PSV 7-1 in the Champions League, the former midfielder said that the academy graduate was the “most exciting footballer in England and maybe Europe.”
It was hard to dispute that claim. Still only 17 years of age at the time, he was enjoying a simply remarkable campaign where he scored nine times in 37 games. He came mightily close to breaking Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen’s record for senior goals scored before they turned 18.
Nwaneri earned his first-team debut at 15. He is the youngest player in the club’s history but his proper chance a few years later was born out of Saka’s injury situation.
Now 18, the attacker relished the opportunity of replacing Arsenal’s best player and took his chance with aplomb. However, then came the current campaign.
|
Arsenal’s youngest debutants |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Age at debut |
|
#1 Ethan Nwaneri |
15 years, 5 months, 28 days |
|
#2 Max Dowman |
15 years, 7 months, 23 days |
|
#3 Jack Porter |
16 years, 2 months, 10 days |
|
#4 Marli Salmon |
16 years, 3 months, 11 days |
|
#5 Cesc Fabregas |
16 years, 5 months, 24 days |
|
#6 Jack Wilshere |
16 years, 8 months, 12 days |
|
#7 Jermaine Pennant |
16 years, 10 months, 15 days |
|
#8 Paul Vaessen |
16 years, 11 months, 11 days |
|
#9 Ryan Smith |
16 years, 11 months, 18 days |
|
#10 Gedion Zelalem |
16 years, 11 months, 29 days |
While the teen was the most exciting thing since sliced bread last term, 2025/26 has been a really difficult one for him. Like Lewis-Skelly, he has barely kicked a ball for Arsenal, failing to start a single Premier League game.
Nwaneri did earn starts in the EFL Cup and against Portsmouth in round three of the FA Cup but that was not enough for England’s next great footballing hope. While far younger than Smith Rowe when it happened to him, the lack of game time for one of Hale End’s best products was eerily similar. The manner in which it happened, with big-money signings replacing him, was similar as well.
Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke had signed last summer and it has significantly dented the youngster’s hopes of earning regular game time. He needed minutes and in a bid to do so, joined Marseille on loan but it’s not been an easy ride out there either.
Arsenal selected the French side as they were managed by Roberto De Zerbi, a coach with similar philosophies to Arteta and it was all going swimmingly when he scored on his debut.
However, De Zerbi left the Ligue 1 club just a few weeks later and now Nwaneri has not started in the league for four successive matches. He also missed a penalty in their French Cup shoot-out defeat to Toulouse last weekend.
While it would be far too soon to write off Nwaneri completely, particularly as he only turns 19 in a couple of weeks, Smith Rowe’s Arsenal adventure is a cautionary tale for him.
If he doesn’t get more regular opportunities next season, then you may have to start worrying about his future. Arteta will no doubt be incredibly keen to avoid another Smith Rowe situation here.
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