Although he enjoyed the success of making his under-21 debut for England last night, Brooke Norton-Cuffy may now need to leave Arsenal.
That’s a statement made off the back of Norton-Cuffy’s somewhat disappointing form on loan at Millwall in the Championship this season
Although only eight games into his loan spell, the Arsenal 19-year-old has struggled to have an impact in his displays.
And upon being subbed at half-time against Swansea at the end of September, Norton-Cuffy has not started since.
Of course, at 19-years-old, Arsenal’s Norton-Cuffy is bound to have highs and lows in his career – he’s still learning.
However, the bar to succeed under Mikel Arteta is now so high that it no longer seems possible for the full-back to bridge the gap.
Just look at Charlie Patino, a world-class talent in the academy, and he now doesn’t have a path to the first-team.
It may seem harsh on the face of it to say that Norton-Cuffy needs to leave Arsenal, but that’s more a reality of the club’s trajectory rather than his own shortcomings.
It will always be hard to see players like Norton-Cuffy leave Arsenal
Both Patino and Norton-Cuffy were on the bench for England’s under-21 side last night, but only the latter made minutes.
And the duo do find themselves in a similar situation at Arsenal.
Although the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah have graduated to the first team from the Hale End academy of late, that’s a trend that’s slowing down.
Not because Arsenal aren’t interested in their academy, rather the gap is now so big to Arteta’s improving team.
Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri both look like they could make the cut one day, but they are still 17 and 16 respectively.
And with Norton-Cuffy now two years ahead and struggling to make an impression at Millwall, he may now be thinking of leaving Arsenal.
There’s no rush to make a decision, but the full-back may now be considering where his future lies.
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