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Chris Wheatley

The Hale End graduates who can provide Arsenal with a cash injection this summer

It's set to be another busy summer transfer window for Arsenal as manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu look to strengthen the squad further.

January saw a number of fringe players leave the club, whilst Martin Odegaard and Mat Ryan filled the creativity and goalkeeper positions which were evidently needed.

Edu will be on the lookout for a left-back this summer but there are also several Hale End academy graduates who have uncertain futures at the club.

MIKEL ARTETA OPENS UP ON WILLIAN'S RECENT IMPROVEMENT FOR ARSENAL

football.london assesses those Arsenal born and bred youngsters and gives the verdict on where they could end up next season.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles

There is no doubt that Maitland-Niles can go on to become a fantastic player for Arsenal, but it all depends on several factors.

His insistence on playing in central midfield is admirable but with Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka ahead of him in the pecking order, it appears unlikely that he'll break into that area anytime soon.

Maitland-Niles at full-back poses a different sort of question to Mikel Arteta and his high pass completion, interception rate and agility in one on one duels makes him an obvious choice at right-back.

With Hector Bellerin being heavily linked with a move away this summer, Maitland-Niles has an opportunity to impress at West Brom and work his way into the thinking of Arteta once again.

It's mostly dependent on his commitment to play where the manager wants him to play, otherwise it's more than likely that the Gunners will sell him for a decent fee this summer.

Verdict: Sell (unless he's happy to play at full-back)

Joe Willock

Willock's impressive Europa League statistics this season culminated in his game time being reduced until he was forced to go out on loan.

He turns 22 at the start of next season and is currently one of Newcastle's most influential players at the heart of midfield.

He made 44 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal last season, most of which were under former head coach Unai Emery who gave many opportunities to the young players.

But it's clear that if he was ready to start week in, week out for the club then Arteta would have kept him. He's shown signs of becoming a top class box to box midfielder with his late runs into the box - but his long-term future probably lies away from Arsenal.

Verdict: Sell

Joe Willock scores on his Newcastle debut (Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

Reiss Nelson

Nelson's time under Arteta has been stop-start. He has had injury problems but there have also been times where he's been excluded from the matchday squad altogether.

As it stands, he's regularly playing for the Under-23s which shows more than anything how his development has gone backwards.

He rejected the opportunity to go on loan to Hertha Berlin last summer in favour of knuckling down and working his way into the Arsenal team, but it hasn't happened.

The 21-year-old is a player with huge potential and it's clear he possesses the technical ability to feature regularly in the Premier League.

A loan move to a Premier League side and a new contract would make the most sense in order to protect the player's market value.

Verdict: Loan


Eddie Nketiah

Nketiah is a hard-working forward whose defensive statistics are make him stand out.

He rates highly for blocks, interceptions and pressures while his goalscoring record at all levels makes him a traditional centre forward.

However, it's those traditional qualities which aren't necessarily the perfect fit for Arteta's currently tactical system.

With one year remaining on his contract, a decision on his future will have to be made over the next few months.

There is a good player in there and room for improvement, but it seems that a loan or permanent transfer is likely this summer.

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