YOUNG GUNS TOLD: GET OUT OF TOWN
FORMER Arsenal academy director Andries Jonker has warned talented youngsters to stay away from the Emirates if they want to make the grade.
Jonker (below), the Dutchman who spent two-and-a-half years with the Gunners before leaving the club in February 2017, has hammered the London club for failing to provide a pathway from youth team to first team.
He believes the problem is endemic in English football – citing Manchester City as another prime example of a club that won’t put their faith in homegrown players.
And now he has urged teenagers to follow the example of exciting tyros like Jadon Sancho, Reiss Nelson and Donyell Malen by moving to the continent.
Sancho rejected a £30,000-a-week contract at City to move to Borussia Dortmund – and the 18-year-old’s impact has been so dramatic that he is now playing for England.
Nelson, 19, has also enhanced his reputation in the Bundesliga, after leaving Arsenal to join Hoffenheim on a season-long loan.
And Dutch 20-year-old Malen helped PSV Eindhoven win the Eredivisie last season after quitting the Gunners in 2017. Jonker said: “When I was at Arsenal, manager Arsene Wenger sometimes called up a few youth players for a couple of games in the League Cup. “But when Arsenal were playing a Premier League game a couple of days later, those boys were never in the squad.
“And in the next 50 games, Wenger would not pick them, either.
“So I have serious doubts if young talent are making the right step if they go to England at this moment. I would advise them not to go, but to play 100 games in firstteam football on the continent first.
“Take Donyell Malen. At Arsenal, he was a big talent. But he left the club just in time.
“He realised he was going to end up in what I call no-man’s land.
“Young players in England, who have huge talent, will only go and play in an Under-18 team.
“And, when they are improving, they then only go in the Under-23 team.
“So Jadon Sancho went from Man City to Borussia Dortmund – and he is a sensation there.
“Reiss Nelson, of Arsenal, is choosing the same route. He is getting plenty of chances and minutes at Hoffenheim.”
Jonker’s words could not have come at a worse time for Arsenal.
The Dutchman was brought in from Wolfsburg to replace the highly respected Liam Brady.
Jonker did recruit Malen, but, when he left the club, Arsenal’s academy was failing to produce players good enough to break into the first-team picture.
Ivan Gazidis looked to restructure the club’s recruitment strategy from top to bottom, following Wenger’s departure from the club last summer after 22 years in charge.
But, once again, Arsenal have been forced to go back to the drawing board.
Gazidis himself accepted an offer to become chief executive of AC Milan last September.
And head of recruitment Sven Mislintat will leave the club when the transfer window closes after a clash of personalities with senior members of his scouting staff.
Mislintat had set his sights on becoming Arsenal’s first technical director.
But, after confirming Mislintat’s departure during the week, head of football Raul Sanllehi will now work through a shortlist that includes Ajax director of football Marc Overmars, Brazilian FA coordinator Edu and Roma director of football Monchi.