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Eberechi Eze is one of Crystal Palace's best players.

7 former Arsenal academy graduates currently thriving away from the Emirates

Michael Lee •

Arsenal have plenty of former academy players at other clubs and a handful of them are currently living their best lives since leaving the Emirates.

As Mikel Arteta’s team remain in the hunt for Premier League and Champions League success, several of their former players are also enjoying good seasons.

We’ve identified seven former Arsenal academy graduates who are currently loving life since leaving the club.

Serge Gnabry

The one that got away.

Gnabry was handed his Arsenal debut at 17 and Wenger clearly had high hopes for the German winger in his early days. The Gunners eventually lost patience with Gnabry after a subpar loan spell with West Brom and decided to cut him loose.

Since leaving the Emirates in 2015, the 28-year-old hasn’t looked back. He enjoyed an eye-catching campaign with Werder Bremen and was then promptly picked up by Bayern Munich.

With 13 trophies to his name, including five league titles and the Champions League, it’s fair to say that Gnabry doesn’t have any regrets about leaving the Emirates.

Emiliano Martinez

After arriving at Arsenal in 2010, and spending years out on loan, Martinez eventually emerged to feature for the Gunners in the latter half of the 2010s – the highlight being his starring role in the Gunners’ 2020 FA Cup triumph.

Now 31, Martinez is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League at Aston Villa, who are above Arsenal in the league table, and played a starring role in Argentina’s World Cup success last year.

Watching David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale fail to convince makes you wonder whether Arteta should’ve stuck with Martinez.

Eberechi Eze

Since joining Palace in 2020, Eze has been a sensation at Selhurst Park, winning his first England cap in June and attracting interest from Arsenal and Manchester City.

But it may comes a surprise to learn the midfielder started his youth career with the Gunners, joining the club as an eight-year-old in 2006.

Eze was released five years later and eventually had to work his way up into the Premier League via Fulham, Reading, Millwall and QPR.

 

Alex Iwobi

Iwobi’s senior debut for Arsenal came in in a 3–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in 2016, and the winger went on to make 149 appearances for the club.

Nicolas Pepe’s arrival saw Iwobi fall down the pecking order under Unai Emery, and the Nigeria international was sold to Everton for £28million in 2019.

He’s had ups and downs at Goodison Park, but impressed enough to earn a move to Fulham last summer where he’s quickly become an integral member of Marco Silva’s midfield.

Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal after the UEFA Europa League match at the Emirates Stadium, London.

READ: Where are they now? The last 10 Arsenal academy grads under Arsene Wenger

Nathan Tella

Tella came through the ranks at Southampton, but was originally an Arsenal academy member and spent 10 years at Hale End before joining the Saints in 2017.

The winger played an integral role in Burnley’s promotion-winning campaign last year and Southampton decided to cash in on the 24-year-old, selling him to Bayer Leverkusen for £20million.

With two goals and three assists so far, Tella has made a decent start with Xabi Alonso’s table-toppers – but you feel there’s still more to come.

Stephy Mavididi

Mavididi – a former England youth international – was released by Arsenal in 2018 without a playing a single game for the club.

Happily, the striker has rebuilt his career since leaving the Emirates, impressing at Montpellier via a spell at Juventus.

After signing for Leicester last summer, Mavididi is ripping up the Championship and already has nine goals and four assists to his name. Expect him to shine in the Premier League next year…

 

Yunus Musah

Arsenal will be kicking themselves for letting Musah go so easily in 2019.

Despite not making an appearance for the Gunners, the midfielder had a staunch supporter Arsenal U16 coach Trevor Bumstead.

“As a player, he was ‘wow’. He’s got fantastic physical attributes and the drive and determination to go with that, Bumstead said. “He would play anywhere to get in the team but his favourite was as a central attacking midfield player.”

The USA international spent three seasons playing regularly in La Liga after being picked up by Valencia and is now a first-team regular at AC Milan.

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