Per Mertesacker will leave Arsenal this summer with his head held very high and having had a huge impact on a number of young players.
Mertesacker has overseen things at the Hale End academy for around eight years now and is widely regarded by many inside the club as being key in the emergence of a number of quality youngsters in recent years.
The former Gunners defender has seen the likes of Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and more recently, Max Dowman, all come through under his watch.
Mertesacker will depart this summer for a new challenge. However, one of his success stories, Lewis-Skelly, has sung his praises before he does head off.
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Myles Lewis-Skelly praises Per Mertesacker
There is no doubting the hole Mertesacker’s exit will leave at the club. His impact has been massive, both in terms of player development and helping those young players into becoming young men.
Indeed, that is something that recent graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly wanted to get across.
Speaking on The Dispatch podcast, Lewis-Skelly paid tribute to the German.
“First off, I’ll just say Per is an amazing person, first of all,” Lewis-Skelly said.
“And he just, he’s highlighted the importance of being a good person before the football, before your profession, your career, whatever you want to call it, it’s the importance of being a good person. And I feel like the morals and the values that he show off the pitch, you know, it will correlate to on the pitch.
“And Per’s been a big advocate for the strong and Gunners being a good person, and it’s definitely resonated a lot with me.”
Per Mertesacker’s biggest success stories as Arsenal academy head
As mentioned above, the German has been in charge while some big players have come through the ranks.
His success can be measured both in terms of those who have helped the Arsenal first-team, and those who have gone on to make the club money.
Two big money makers for the club have been Emile Smith Rowe and Folarin Balogun, who fetched in north of £70m in terms of sales. Charlie Patino is another to have made a career, while Eddie Nketiah also got a big move.
In terms of first-team success stories, Bukayo Saka is the big name in there but Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Max Dowman all have the chance to make a big impact soon.
Put simply, Mertesacker’s time in charge has been a huge success and Arsenal need to ensure the gap is filled correctly when he goes.
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