Throughout the Premier League era Arsenal have had a reputation as blooders of young talent.
Arsene Wenger was never afraid to give youth a chance, and Mikel Arteta looks to be following in the same vein.
But not every youngster can go straight into the first team and immediately excel.
Many have cut their teeth during loan spells elsewhere, before returning to north London as better, more experienced players.
Here are five examples.
Jack Wilshere (Bolton)
Wilshere joined the Arsenal academy as a nine-year-old and went on to make his first-team debut for the club in September 2008.
The midfielder featured in seven more games that season, before being loaned out to Bolton midway through the 2009/10 campaign.
It was an excellent decision. Wilshere made 14 Premier League appearances for the Trotters, having been restricted to just two at Arsenal.
He impressed under Owen Coyle and was key to Bolton’s survival. The club finished the season in 14th having been in the bottom three when Wilshere arrived.
Bolton tried to re-sign him on loan the following year, but Arsene Wenger made Wilshere a permanent member of his first-team squad instead.
The former England international went on to play 197 times for Arsenal before his departure in 2018.
Wojciech Szczesny (Brentford)
Arsenal brought Szczesny to the club from Legia Warsaw when he was 16 years old in 2006.
The Polish goalkeeper progressed to the reserve team two years later, before joining Brentford on loan in November 2009.
It was initially a one-month arrangement but Szczesny was so good between the sticks that the Bees extended the deal until the end of the season.
Despite playing just 28 games for the club, Szczesny was later named Brentford’s goalkeeper of the decade.
He returned to Arsenal in the summer of 2010 and soon claimed the No.1 jersey, playing all 38 Premier League matches in 2011/12.
He later fell out of favour and spent two seasons on loan at Roma, before joining Juventus in 2017.
Ashley Cole (Crystal Palace)
Cole made his maiden appearance for Arsenal, his boyhood club, in November 1999.
Arsene Wenger reasoned that the left-back would benefit from more regular minutes, though, and loaned him out to Crystal Palace for the second half of the season.
Palace were a second-tier club back then and Cole immediately showed that he was a cut above most of his peers.
The teenager played just 14 times for the Eagles but was likened to Kenny Sansom - another former Palace and Arsenal defender - by the club’s fans.
Cole went on to replace Sylvinho as Arsenal’s first-choice left-back in 2000/01 and won two Premier League titles with the Gunners before his controversial transfer to Chelsea.
Hector Bellerin (Watford)
Bellerin followed in the footsteps of Cesc Fabregas in swapping Barcelona’s youth ranks for Arsenal’s in 2011.
The right-back made his senior debut in the League Cup in September 2013, replacing current manager Mikel Arteta in second-half stoppage time.
Two months later Bellerin joined Watford on loan, dropping down into the Championship in search of more regular first-team minutes.
The move paid off. Bellerin made only eight appearances for Watford, but that’s largely because Arsenal recalled him in February.
Bellerin was a more permanent fixture in Arsenal’s first team the following campaign, has now played almost 200 matches for the club and is earmarked as a future captain.
Aaron Ramsey (Nottingham Forest/Cardiff)
Unlike the players listed above, Ramsey had played more than a handful of minutes for Arsenal when he was sent out on loan in 2010/11.
However, the Wales international was on the long road back from a horrific leg break he suffered against Stoke in February 2010.
His short spells at Nottingham Forest and Cardiff, his boyhood team, were therefore vital in helping Ramsey rebuild his confidence and regain his match fitness.
The midfielder played a combined 11 Championship matches for the two clubs, before returning to north London in February.
Ramsey never looked back from there, and by the time of his departure last summer he had played 369 games and won three FA Cups in an Arsenal shirt.
