Mikel Arteta is reaping the rewards of Arsenal’s youth system.
Reiss Nelson became the fifth player aged 20 and under to score in the Premier League for the Gunners this season as he bagged the winner against Liverpool last week.
The next generation of talent including the likes of Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock and Bukayo Saka has symbolised the major positive of a below-par campaign.
Arsene Wenger has widely been credited with developing the modern day Hale End academy system which has produced countless stars over the years.
And Andries Jonker, who headed up the academy between 2014 and 2017, has outlined the exact role Wenger played.
He says the legendary Frenchman was happy to keep his distance and trust his staff - but also had a “special” ability to give youngsters a true opportunity to progress into the first-team.
Whilst he has kept his distance since leaving the club, his hidden work has had an influence and paid dividends for former player Arteta.
Wenger handed Willock, Nelson and Nketiah their first foray into first-team training, which is now seeing them make an impact further down the line.
“Arsene was not involved in Hale End at all, and that was good, I appreciated it,” Jonker told Mirror Football.
“I know from my experience that if you want to run a top team, there is no time to run anything else.
“I didn’t expect anything from him, but there was always an ear for me, so if I had something I wanted to discuss he always made five minutes and we could always discuss the things I wanted to discuss.
“A couple of times a week we spoke briefly but very to the point and he was supportive.
“He was not the man organising things in the academy, but that made sense, that was my job. He did the first team, and that was enough.
“The other thing he was really remarkable in was any player he would take to London Colney, he would always put on the pitch.
“He didn’t give them much playing time in the first team in the really important games, but in training time, every player who made a good impression and was doing well then got a chance to really prove themselves to Arsene Wenger.
“That was a special thing he had, but it was difficult to come into the team at that level and I think the stats prove that.”
