Luke Freeman GONE

[A dallying Gus Caesar]

Yet more proof that Wenger's obsession with signing young talent that NEVER makes it at the club is a crock of poo.

How much money do we waste on players like Sanchez Watt, Craig Eastmond et al who will never make it at our club.

Freeman was another such player, and where has he ended up.................Stevenage.

I rest my case.

[goonersid]

I was sure he was one for the future

[safcftm]

Yet more proof that Wenger's obsession with signing young talent that NEVER makes it at the club is a crock of poo.

How much money do we waste on players like Sanchez Watt, Craig Eastmond et al who will never make it at our club.

Freeman was another such player, and where has he ended up.................Stevenage.

I rest my case.

Its a risk worth taking tbh- these young lads will be on very little money and it wouldnt take much of a transfer fee for them to have paid for themselves. Obviously some of them end up costing you a little bit of money but then at the other end of the scale you get the likes of Wilshere who you could sell for about £25m. Academies sometimes seem like a waste and it seems pointless to keep lads who will never make it in the first team but I think enough probably move on at enough profit to make it a good investment

[Boomer]

Yet more proof that Wenger's obsession with signing young talent that NEVER makes it at the club is a crock of poo.

How much money do we waste on players like Sanchez Watt, Craig Eastmond et al who will never make it at our club.

Freeman was another such player, and where has he ended up.................Stevenage.

I rest my case.

Its a risk worth taking tbh- these young lads will be on very little money and it wouldnt take much of a transfer fee for them to have paid for themselves. Obviously some of them end up costing you a little bit of money but then at the other end of the scale you get the likes of Wilshere who you could sell for about £25m. Academies sometimes seem like a waste and it seems pointless to keep lads who will never make it in the first team but I think enough probably move on at enough profit to make it a good investment

Add Cesc into that too!

It's a double sided coin.
Some workout other don't...Those that don't we mainly reap the benefits as we sell them off. Being at a club like Arsenal usually for a profit.

Even players that go on the cheap can also add to our coffers. Take that Rat faced Bentley. Forget how much we sold him to Blackburn but we got alot more through a sell-on clause....and from Spurs too!

[jrthgooner]

I am shocked that we have got rid of him as he always seems to play well when on loan and also for the reserves.

I was hoping that both him, Murphy and Afobe might get a chance especially in the carling cup but it is not to be and I can see them going soon to.

I personally would prefer to have these young kids running themselves into the ground to prove they are worth a go than have to continue to watch Chamakh do nothing

[safcftm]

Yet more proof that Wenger's obsession with signing young talent that NEVER makes it at the club is a crock of poo.

How much money do we waste on players like Sanchez Watt, Craig Eastmond et al who will never make it at our club.

Freeman was another such player, and where has he ended up.................Stevenage.

I rest my case.

Its a risk worth taking tbh- these young lads will be on very little money and it wouldnt take much of a transfer fee for them to have paid for themselves. Obviously some of them end up costing you a little bit of money but then at the other end of the scale you get the likes of Wilshere who you could sell for about £25m. Academies sometimes seem like a waste and it seems pointless to keep lads who will never make it in the first team but I think enough probably move on at enough profit to make it a good investment

Add Cesc into that too!

It's a double sided coin.
Some workout other don't...Those that don't we mainly reap the benefits as we sell them off. Being at a club like Arsenal usually for a profit.

Even players that go on the cheap can also add to our coffers. Take that Rat faced Bentley. Forget how much we sold him to Blackburn but we got alot more through a sell-on clause....and from Spurs too!

Exactly- I think sometimes there is a tendancy for people to judge an academy purely on how many players break into the first team. Obviously at a club like Arsenal there will be relatively few players able to make the step up despite being able to source some of the world's best young talent. If, however, you can sell them on at a profit then its all good for the club. These academy players are often lucky if they're getting £1000 a week- you selling Bentley will have probably covered a couple of years with of academy players wages, it'll end up a profitable venture for the club

[rigsby]

To be honest how many players actually make it from the youth set ups at clubs? Its very rare for more than say 2 or 3 to really make an impact.

[clockender1]

Take that Rat faced Bentley. Forget how much we sold him to Blackburn but we got alot more through a sell-on clause....and from Spurs too!

we got 10 million quid for bentley - more than we paid for Vermaelen....

Pennant was 5million.

Stephen hughes 3 million

cashley - 5 million.

Clichy 7 million

kolo - 16 million.

horseface - $23million

good business really, apart from the cut price dross we invested in.....

[arseofacrow]

Yet more proof that Wenger's obsession with signing young talent that NEVER makes it at the club is a crock of poo.

How much money do we waste on players like Sanchez Watt, Craig Eastmond et al who will never make it at our club.

Freeman was another such player, and where has he ended up.................Stevenage.

I rest my case.

Its a risk worth taking tbh- these young lads will be on very little money and it wouldnt take much of a transfer fee for them to have paid for themselves. Obviously some of them end up costing you a little bit of money but then at the other end of the scale you get the likes of Wilshere who you could sell for about £25m. Academies sometimes seem like a waste and it seems pointless to keep lads who will never make it in the first team but I think enough probably move on at enough profit to make it a good investment

Add Cesc into that too!

It's a double sided coin.
Some workout other don't...Those that don't we mainly reap the benefits as we sell them off. Being at a club like Arsenal usually for a profit.

Even players that go on the cheap can also add to our coffers. Take that Rat faced Bentley. Forget how much we sold him to Blackburn but we got alot more through a sell-on clause....and from Spurs too!

Exactly- I think sometimes there is a tendancy for people to judge an academy purely on how many players break into the first team. Obviously at a club like Arsenal there will be relatively few players able to make the step up despite being able to source some of the world's best young talent. If, however, you can sell them on at a profit then its all good for the club. These academy players are often lucky if they're getting £1000 a week- you selling Bentley will have probably covered a couple of years with of academy players wages, it'll end up a profitable venture for the club

The overwhelming point is to provide players for the first team.

If you're a team who likes to be known as investing in youth, then it should solely be judged on who/how many break into the first team. Especially if you like to bring through players at the expense of proper investment in quality players, in line with the highest season ticket prices around.

Wilshire - that's it.

Gibbs - a bad, and unfortunately broken, defender.

A K

[donaldo]

To be honest how many players actually make it from the youth set ups at clubs? Its very rare for more than say 2 or 3 to really make an impact.

Under Wenger only Cashley has made it from the academy to the very top.Although Jack may.And dont forget we nearly got rid if Cashley before Silvinho's dodgy passport saga

[Boomer]

Bit of quick research. Furthest dated FA Youth cup tie on .Com (We’d field the strongest side) was in the 2005-6 season which we lost against Brentford on Pens.

Sadly the full squad for the game mentioned but I’ve pulled out the names from the report. Along side the names are the transfers leaving Arsenal/where they are.

Song – still with the club
Bendtner – still with the club
Watts – still with the club
Stokes – £2M to Sunderland
Lansbury – still with the club
Muamba - £5M to Bolton
Mitchell Murphy - ???
Rene Steer – Released 2009
Jeffrey Imudia - ??
Giorgos Efrem - Released 2009
Jay Simpson -£1.3M to Hull
Shane Tracy - Released 2007

So out of the 12 that I found:
1 is a first team regular
3 are still with the club but currently on loan. Pretty sure its simply a shop window for them to be sold.
3 where released
2 unknown
3 sold for £8.3M in total.

[frankbutcher]

Our youth record is average. Not as good as some, not as bad as others. Just like our first team squad.

[_James_]

Take that Rat faced Bentley. Forget how much we sold him to Blackburn but we got alot more through a sell-on clause....and from Spurs too!

we got 10 million quid for bentley - more than we paid for Vermaelen....

Pennant was 5million.

Stephen hughes 3 million

cashley - 5 million.

Clichy 7 million

kolo - 16 million.

horseface - $23million

good business really, apart from the cut price dross we invested in.....

Also £3million for Justin Hoyte to Middlesbrough.

[brazilianGOONER]

Yet more proof that Wenger's obsession with signing young talent that NEVER makes it at the club is a crock of poo.

How much money do we waste on players like Sanchez Watt, Craig Eastmond et al who will never make it at our club.

Freeman was another such player, and where has he ended up.................Stevenage.

I rest my case.

yeah, how the fuck don't all our academy players become lio messi???





good points made by safcftm

[LDB]

I love it when people post nonsense and then put "i rest my case"

For once frankbutcher is spot on