Four more Arsenal academy graduates are set to leave the club this summer, according to reports, including midfielder Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand.
Oulad M'Hand brother Salah-Eddine and Ismail (R) celebrate a goal with Khayon Edwards (L) (Photo via Arsenal.com)
Photo via Arsenal.com
Jeorge Bird reports for Arsenal Youth that Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand is likely to leave Arsenal this summer, having spent five years in north London.
Bird highlights that Oulad M’Hand would count as a senior player for Arsenal next season, using up a squad spot, yet he’s never played a senior game for the Gunners.
Something has to give, and if it’s not a first-team promotion, a departure certainly seems the most likely outcome.
Nathan Butler-Oyedeji celebrates a goal for the Arsenal u21s (Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter)
Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter
Bird had previously reported that Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, Jack Henry-Francis, and Jimi Gower are all set to leave Arsenal at the end of their contracts next month.
The three players have regularly been on the bench for Mikel Arteta’s side in recent months, and Butler-Oyedeji even made a couple of appearances on the pitch.
But they aren’t set to extend their deals in north London, so they’ll soon be on the way out. They’ll join Khayon Edwards and others who have already long been expected to leave.
Mikel Merino in training with Arsenal (Photo via Arsenal.com)
Photo via Arsenal.com
There’s clearly a pathway to first-team football at Arsenal, as Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri, and Myles Lewis-Skelly are proving. Max Dowman appears to be the next in line to get a chance.
Yet not everyone can make the permanent step up, and just getting the opportunity to be involved in the squad puts Gower, Henry-Francis, and co. ahead of many others who have come through the Hale End academy.
Mikel Arteta will be grateful to have had the help of the above players in training this season, given his small squad and quite a number of injuries. Hopefully they can all now find the right clubs to make their next steps.
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