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Football can be a cruel game.
Five years ago, Tyreece John-Jules was a talented young player with the world at his feet. An England youth international at every age group from under-16s to under-21s, who had been the stand-out man in Arsenal youth sides featuring the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka, he had been identified by new Gunners boss Mikel Arteta as a first team star of the future.
“He can do everything, he links really well on the ball every time he’s out of the number nine position,” Arteta told reporters after he had named John-Jules on the bench in a number of senior games. “He’s got a really good ability to do that. He reads situations earlier than others and he’s a good finisher as well. Physically he’s developed in a really good shape, so I think he’s a very complete player.”
At the outset of what has proven to be a long and steady building-up of the club, Arteta was instrumental in the decision to get John-Jules out on loan to develop his game in men’s football. A short stint with Lincoln City went reasonably well, as did a season with Darren Moore at Doncaster Rovers. Blackpool proved a great deal trickier and he was sent back to London early. Injuries had started to crop up.
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And then came Sheffield Wednesday. Welcomed back to the familiarity of Moore and assistant Jamie Smith, it was hoped he could rekindle his career at his biggest loan mission yet. Signed in January 2022 in the wake of an injury to Lee Gregory, the then-Owls boss spoke glowingly of his talent and potential but his Owls career lasted only 18 minutes as he suffered a serious injury to his quadricep on debut against Ipswich Town.
Further loans at Ipswich Town and Derby County produced an involvement in League One promotion efforts but both seasons were cut short by injury - his Portman Road stint ended as early as the October and Pride Park in January.
Now, having left Arsenal last summer and having finally battled through a campaign free from serious injury, he has been released by Crawley Town. A goalless season played out across 27 appearances proved not enough to have him feature in Scott Lindsay’s plans for next season after he watched on from the bench in the final four matches of season in which his side narrowly survived in a third tier relegation scrap.
Where John-Jules goes from here is not yet known. While football is mired in cruel social media sniping and opinion, while Saka and Nketiah roll their way through Premier League stardom, it’s important to remember just how cruel the game can be.
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