Mikel Arteta must right one of his wrongs at Arsenal this season after Charlie Patino’s shock transfer.
Not many would have expected to hear the news of Charlie Patino’s £1m exit from Arsenal this summer.
The 20-year-old was an incredibly highly-rated prospect at Hale End, making his departure a difficult pill to swallow.
After spending the 2023/24 campaign on loan at Swansea City, Patino returned to North London with his mind made up on his future beyond the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta made a mistake with Charlie Patino
Patino’s nine-year stay at Arsenal is poised to come to an end this summer as Deportivo La Coruna have agreed a deal with the Gunners.
The midfielder shone on his senior debut for Arsenal back in 2021 but has had little chance to impress since, seeing Arteta’s handling of Patino questioned by journalist Charles Watts.
The manager dropped the youngster from the club’s pre-season tour of the United States in 2022, which Watts identified as a ‘big turning point’ in the academy graduate’s hopes of making it at Arsenal.
Arteta might have fumbled a star talent in Patino amid criticism over his lack of attention to the academy over the years of his reign; however, the Spaniard can now prove doubters wrong.
Arteta can overturn Patino mistake by giving Ethan Nwaneri a platform
Only time will tell just how far Patino’s wings can spread away from Arsenal, with the Gunners expecting big things having inserted a sizeable sell-on clause into his proposed contract in Spain.
Arteta might be reviewing where it went wrong with his management of the 20-year-old’s talent, giving the manager fuel to power a resurgence in academy attention.
Arsenal’s progression over the past few years has made it even harder for young talents to make their mark but now, one player has a real chance to earn his breakthrough.
Ethan Nwaneri is a prospect that Arteta thinks highly of, with the boss sharing his plan to keep the 17-year-old around the first team for the season ahead.
There will be hope that the teenager can earn a premature break into the first team over the 2024/25 calendar, which would not only benefit the Englishman but also, his manager.
Arteta can rectify the mistakes he made with Patino by handing Nwaneri a platform to impress early into his career, to ensure that another quality talent doesn’t slip through the net.
Given what fans have already seen of the teenager, Nwaneri may offer the Gunners far more than just some credibility when it comes to promoting youth players.
The attacking midfielder could have a clear run at being the number two to Martin Odegaard over the season ahead, with the margins fine between his breakthrough and Fabio Vieira’s downfall.
Only time will tell if Nwaneri is handed a real shot at making it in Arteta’s first team this year, with the boss’ treatment of the 17-year-old set to be placed under the microscope.
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