Arsenal’s Latest ‘Transfer Decision’ Shows Perils of Win-Now Mentality

A summer of heavy spending could lead to a handful of difficult decisions this year.

Mikel Arteta’s quest for glory has come at a cost. | Miguel Lemos/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Arsenal’s need to raise money to fund their pursuit of major silverware will see the club entertain offers for young stars Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, a report has claimed.

Martín Zubimendi, Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Nørgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga all arrived last summer for more than $336 million (£250 million) combined, on top of the Piero Hincapié loan due to be made permanent for over $60 million.

Meanwhile, less than $20 million was raised through the sales of Nuno Tavares, Marquinhos, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Albert Sambi Lokonga.

BBC Sport note the need to recoup significant funds this summer. Fringe names like Gabriel Jesus and Ben White are candidates for sale, but most controversially, Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly could both be allowed to depart as well.

Arsenal see the sale of the homegrown pair as the chance to raise over $130 million alone.

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Arsenal Could Live to Regret Major Exits

Ethan Nwaneri (left) and Myles Lewis-Skelly (right) could both leave Arsenal. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

The unfortunate reality of modern soccer has seen academy talents viewed more as tradeable commodities than players. Arsenal are far from the first club to take that stance—Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle United are among those to have cashed in already and many more will follow suit.

It is a business model that is thoroughly unpopular among fans, and while supporters will always be won over if titles and silverware can be delivered, there is a significant risk of losing the “community feel” that clubs are so determined to keep alive.

With Arsenal, Bukayo Saka is the only permanent fixture of the current starting XI that came through the academy. Teenage phenom Max Dowman is on the cusp of following him, but the same was said of both Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly in recent years.

For all the excitement surrounding Dowman’s development, it is worth remembering that Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly both commanded similar hysteria during their academy days. Nwaneri, now 19, was hailed as arguably the best player in the country at his age group, while Lewis-Skelly, always viewed by scouts as the most readymade out of the pair, was not far behind.

An infatuation with immediate success has forced Arsenal deep into their pockets. Nwaneri’s place as Saka’s deputy was taken by the proven experience of Madueke and Lewis-Skelly’s starting spot at left back was stripped away and shared between Riccardo Calafiori and Hincapié as Mikel Arteta decided he could no longer afford the inevitable risks that come with blooding young talents.

That approach may well have set Arsenal up for success this season—the Gunners are top of the Premier League and favorites to win the Champions League—but it risks weakening their future as a pair of England’s most highly rated talents could be heading for the exit door.

Interest in Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly will not be in short supply. Some of Europe’s elite were trying to sign the former before he put pen to paper on a new contract, while Lewis-Skelly is already being watched by Manchester United.

Specific price tags have not yet been set for either player but splitting $130 million between two premier talents feels surprisingly cheap for the inflated English market, in which Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton are all being tipped to command that sort of money alone.

Expect rival clubs to gleefully lodge bids for the pair, aware the risks are nowhere near as significant as the reward for two players widely accepted to be good enough already. Arsenal may welcome the money in their pockets now, but that may not feel quite so good a few years down the line.

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