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Over the years, Arsenal have garnered a reputation as a club that love to make the most of young talent, and it stands to reason that their academy has produced some tremendous players over time.
Currently, the Gunners' squad is filled with academy graduates – from Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka to Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock – but even if those players go onto major success in the Premier League and beyond, they’ve got a way to go to catch up to the very best players produced at the North London club.
Here are Arsenal’s 5 best academy graduates.
Honourable Mention: Serge Gnabry
It’s probably a little too early in Serge Gnabry’s career to warrant him taking a place on this list, but he’s definitely worthy of an honourable mention. The German international is currently starring for Bayern Munich – and recently scored 4 goals in a Champions League match against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur – after leaving the Emirates back in 2016.
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Gnabry joined the Gunners in 2011 at the age of 16 after first signing with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart, with Arsenal paying around £100,000 to bring him to the Emirates. It didn’t take long for the forward to make an impact, as he moved from the under-18 side to the reserve side in his first season at the club.
2012-13 saw him make his first team debut, becoming Arsenal’s second-youngest debutant in the Premier League era after fellow academy graduate Jack Wilshere. 2013-14 saw him appear 14 times in all competitions – scoring 1 goal – but an injury-hit 2014-15 set him back, as did a disastrous loan to West Bromwich Albion the following season, and that summer he departed for Germany.
Almost four years on, it’s safe to say that Arsenal probably regret letting him leave.
#5 Jack Wilshere
It’s safe to say that it was expected at one point that Jack Wilshere would top a list like this; when the gifted midfielder first broke through into Arsenal’s first team in 2008, it seemed like he was destined for greatness, and his abilities with the ball – particularly his gift for simply drifting past defenders – earned him comparisons to the great Paul Gascoigne.
But more than a decade on, he feels like England’s forgotten man, thanks in the most part to a horrendous record with injuries.
Wilshere first signed with Arsenal as a 9-year-old back in 2001, and worked his way through their various academy sides until Arsene Wenger awarded him with a spot in the first-team squad for the 2008-09 season, handing him his senior debut shortly afterwards. At the age of 16 years and 256 days, he became Arsenal’s youngest-ever league debutant.
The midfielder signed his first professional contract at the start of 2009, and from there it appeared that the sky was the limit; by 2010-11 he was a regular at Arsenal and had broken into the England senior squad too, and that season saw him star in the Gunners’ famous 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League.
The start of 2011-12 saw him sidelined with a fractured ankle, however, and from there, things began to go a little awry. Although Wilshere still produced some shining moments – winning the 2013-14 Goal of the Season award and scoring a stunning brace for England against Slovenia in 2015 – it felt like he spent more time in the treatment room than on the pitch.
Due to his injuries, Wilshere never truly nailed down a starting berth at Arsenal despite having so much talent, and the summer of 2018 saw him move to West Ham when his contract at the Emirates expired.
Unfortunately, injuries have continued to hold him back at the London Stadium, and as of writing, he’s made just a handful of appearances for the Hammers.
#4 Hector Bellerin
Like another player who appears on this list a little later, Hector Bellerin’s career actually began in Spain, as part of Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy. The Spanish full-back signed with La Blaugrana aged 8, but in 2011, at the age of 16, he moved to Arsenal and after working his way through their youth ranks, signed his first professional contract in 2012.
It was the early part of the 2013-14 season when Bellerin made his first-team debut for the Gunners, appearing in an EFL Cup match as a late substitute, but shortly after this, he was sent out to Watford on loan.
The Spaniard lasted just 8 matches at Vicarage Road before being recalled to the Emirates, but failed to make a further appearance before the season ended.
It was 2014-15 that saw him really burst onto the scene; the right-back became a regular starter for the Gunners and played 28 games across the season, including an impressive performance against Aston Villa in Arsenal’s FA Cup final victory. 2015-16 saw his star continue to rise, as he played in 36 of the Gunners’ 38 Premier League games and became the only player from the club to be named in the PFA’s Team of the Year.
In the years that have followed, Bellerin has continued to star at the Emirates, becoming a firm fan favourite in the process. His swashbuckling performances from right-back or right wing-back have marked him out, and he’s been involved in numerous memorable moments, including a stunning goal against Chelsea in the 2017-18 season.
Injuries – most notably an ACL tear in January 2019 – have since curtailed his development, but at the age of just 24, once he returns to full strength it’s likely that the Spaniard will continue to star for the Gunners for years to come – particularly under the watch of another former Barca product, new Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
#3 Wojciech Szczesny
Wojciech Szczesny is currently rated as one of the world’s best goalkeepers, and in hindsight, it’s hard to believe that Arsenal were willing to let him leave in the summer of 2017 given his tremendous potential.
Signed by the Gunners’ academy in 2006 at the age of 16, the Polish stopper made his way into the senior squad in the 2009-10 season before being loaned out to League One side Brentford, where he made an extremely positive impact.
By the start of 2011, Szczesny had become Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper; initially thrust into the role due to injuries to Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Almunia, the Pole performed so impressively that it became impossible for Arsene Wenger to drop him back to the bench. 2011-12 saw him play in all of Arsenal’s Premier League fixtures, and the following season, he claimed the #1 shirt as Almunia departed the club.
However, despite being relatively consistent, mistakes began to creep into Szczesny’s game – something that should perhaps have been expected given his young age – and his attitude off the pitch began to be questioned too, particularly following an incident in which he was fined for smoking in the club’s shower room.
In the summer of 2015, Arsenal signed veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech, and so Szczesny was sent out on loan for the season to Roma. Following his first season at the club, another loan was agreed, and in 2016-17, the Polish keeper kept the most clean sheets in Serie A, helping Roma to finish in second place before returning to North London.
Rather than re-introduce him to their squad, though, the Gunners instead sold him to Juventus for a relatively small fee of €12m – and the rest is basically history. Unfortunately, this was a case of Arsenal simply not having enough patience with their academy graduate; now he has matured, Szczesny would likely walk into the Gunners’ first XI.
#2 Cesc Fabregas
Okay, so technically speaking, Cesc Fabregas could also be classed as a product of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, as he began his career in Catalonia and played for them from the age of 10. But despite breaking into Arsenal’s senior team at the age of just 16, he still had plenty to learn, and a lot of his footballing education came in North London following his move to the club at the age of 15, meaning he qualifies for this list.
Fabregas famously became Arsenal’s youngest ever player when he debuted in an EFL Cup match at the age of just 16 years and 177 days, and although it took him some time to settle into the English game, by the end of 2004-05 he was renowned as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders – winning his first trophy by helping Arsenal to defeat bitter rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
In 2011, following months of media speculation, the Spaniard – who had by that stage won Arsenal’s Player of the Year award twice – moved back to Barcelona for a fee of €29m, and went onto further success there, winning a La Liga title in 2012-13.
Three seasons later, he came back to England, but rather than heading back to the Emirates, he instead moved to Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea – angering Gunners fans in the process.
It was hard to argue with his decision, though; Fabregas ended up winning two Premier League titles, another FA Cup, and the UEFA Europa League with the Blues, before moving onto French side Monaco in January 2019.
Regardless of how Arsenal fans might feel about him today then, there’s no disputing that the Spanish midfield maestro remains one of the Gunners’ best ever academy products.
#1 Ashley Cole
It was almost impossible to decide between this man and Cesc Fabregas when it came to who should be ranked as Arsenal’s best ever academy product, but in the end, while Fabregas was a truly outstanding talent, he was only ever considered amongst the best midfielders in the world.
On the other hand, at his peak, Ashley Cole was undoubtedly the best left-back on the planet, and remains perhaps the best in the position in Premier League history.
An Arsenal fan as a child, Cole signed with the Gunners at the age of 17, and made his first team debut in the EFL Cup a year later. Just two months after that, he inked his first professional deal at the club, making his Premier League debut before moving to First Division side Crystal Palace in a loan deal until the end of the 1999-00 season.
The youngster returned to Highbury in the summer of 2000, and was then able to embed himself in the Gunners’ first team when first-choice left-back Sylvinho suffered an injury. Cole ended the season with 33 appearances in all competitions, and when the Brazilian returned to fitness, he was unable to dislodge his younger counterpart from the starting XI.
From there, Cole was practically an ever-present in Arsenal’s first team, winning two Premier League titles and three FA Cups in the process. He was a key component in Arsene Wenger’s famous ‘Invincibles’ side of 2003-04, and also established himself as England’s primary left-back in the process, having two famous duels with Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006 – arguably coming out on top on both occasions despite his team eventually losing.
By the summer of 2005, Cole was widely recognised as the best left-back in the world – but much to the chagrin of Arsenal fans, he felt that the club simply wasn’t giving his talent enough recognition.
His career plunged into controversy when he was accused – and found guilty – of making contact with London rivals Chelsea with regards to a transfer, and despite being slapped with a fine, the move eventually went through in the summer of 2006, for a fee of £5m plus French defender William Gallas.
Cole would later earn the nickname ‘Cashley’ from angry Arsenal fans, who felt he’d moved to Chelsea purely for the money – but it was hard to claim he’d made a bad decision.
After moving to Stamford Bridge, he became largely an ever-present for 8 seasons, winning the Premier League in 2009-10, the FA Cup on 4 occasions and crowning his career with a Champions League victory in 2011-12.
By the time Cole hung up his boots in the summer of 2019, he’d put together nearly 600 Premier League appearances, and had also become England’s most-capped left-back with a total of 107 games for the Three Lions. He may remain widely disliked by Arsenal fans, but it’s hard to deny that Ashley Cole is the Gunners’ best-ever academy product.
