Charlie Patino is almost certain to leave Arsenal this summer.
The young midfielder is one of Hale End’s finest graduates. He was always viewed as an incredible player in the making, and he has even played and scored for the first team.
However, things just have not gone to plan for Patino in recent years.
The 20-year-old has spent each of the last two years away on loan, first at Blackpool and then at Swansea. He is back at Arsenal now, but it’s only a matter of time before he leaves the club.
What senior Arsenal players think about Charlie Patino
Arsenal are currently in the United States for their pre-season tour.
The Gunners are scheduled to play three games on the other side of the pond, against Bournemouth, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Mikel Arteta has taken a 26-man Arsenal squad to the USA, and all the senior players who are available, apart from the injured Takehiro Tomiyasu, have travelled.
As many as 12 Arsenal youngsters are on the plane too, but Arteta has left Patino back home.
That all but confirms that the young midfielder has no future at the club, and he will be sold before the window shuts in August.
Charles Watts has had his say on Patino, and he has revealed that all the senior Arsenal players love playing with the 20-year-old.
However, there is one reason why Arteta does not fancy him.
Speaking about Patino, the journalist said in a video on his YouTube channel: “The players enjoy playing with him, I know that for a fact and the senior players really liked playing with Charlie and they trusted him in games behind the scenes and in behind closed doors friendlies.
“I think the whole Patino thing, he was absolutely rated so, so highly. I remember doing interviews with people who had discovered him and the coach and stuff, they could not speak highly enough of Charlie. There was a huge amount of excitement about his quality and his potential.
“The thing with Charlie is he was always a bit lacking in the physicality department and I think as a youth player, you can kind of get away with that. But, once you get into senior football, when you step up to that sort of level, it can be harder to get away with that at the very, very top level.”
Watts then addressed Patino’s future and claimed that he hopes the youngster can find a club where he can shine in the coming weeks.
“I hope Charlie gets a good move this summer where he can sort of settle down and forge a good career for himself because he’s absolutely good enough to do that,” Watts said.
“He just needs to find the right club, the right move, where he feels settled, because he is good enough, and I hope that happens with him in the next couple of weeks or a couple of months because I’m sure he will get a move at some point before the window shuts.”
Arsenal have lost millions on five young players
Arsenal have always been terrible at selling players, and that hasn’t changed recently.
Many of the Gunners’ rivals in the Premier League use their academies to make millions by selling their talented youngsters to other clubs.
Arsenal have had the chance to do exactly that with five academy players – Patino, Reuell Walters, Omari Hutchinson, Amario Cozier-Duberry and Miguel Azeez – in recent years.
Four of the above have already left the club for little or no money, while Patino isn’t expected to generate a big transfer fee this summer either.
Arsenal definitely could’ve planned better as all of the above players, and many others over the years, were rated very highly across the country before it got to the point where they had to leave.
You can’t help but look at other clubs and be frustrated about how the Gunners have lost millions on these players.
READ MORE: Every Arsenal academy player Mikel Arteta has debuted including Charlie Patino
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