Arsenal’s 10 most valuable academy graduates in 2024 according to Transfermarkt
The amount of talent that has emerged from Arsenal’s academy and youth teams in the past couple of decades is a complete silliness. Three Weetabix for breakfast every day down at Hale End.
The Gunners do have a knack for identifying and selling players from elsewhere very young—step forward Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin—and those players have a knack of stretching their wings and flying the nest.
We’ve compiled a list of the ten most valuable active players who came through Arsenal’s youth ranks, beginning with an invincible…
10. Nathan Tella – €23m
Fooled ya. No, Bobby Pires hasn’t come out of retirement, but ex-Southampton baller Nathan Tella is a Leverkusen man in 2024, and Leverkusen don’t lose. Apart from that one Europa League Final. They almost never lose.
Leverkusen’s Stevenage-born Nigerian winger spent ten years in Arsenal’s youth system before moving on to Southampton. Got his senior break on the South Coast, spent a year helping Burnley get back to the Premier League, and now he’s a Bundesliga champion.
9. Alex Iwobi – €25m
A firm fan favourite everywhere he’s played, Iwobi made 100 Premier League appearances for the Gunners before making the move to Merseyside.
At Everton, he was converted from a tricky winger into a ball-carrying central midfielder, and it suited him down to the ground.
The Nigerian international is at Fulham now, at the peak of his powers.
8. Emiliano Martinez – €28m
Arsenal have a habit of selling backup goalies only for them to go on to have great careers. Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Fabianksi, and Bernd Leno to name three, and Aaron Ramsdale might not be far behind them.
The best example of this phenomenon, however, is Emi Martinez, who was sold by the Gunners, won the World Cup with Argentina (and played a MASSIVE part in that victory), then helped get Aston Villa into the Champions League for the first time in over 40 years.
7. Folarin Balogun – €30m
Balogun always had potential but was rarely given the opportunity to show that in North London. after just a handful of appearances for the senior team, the striker loved on loan to Middlesbrough, where he struggled a little bit in terms of output.
After that, though, Balogun spent a year on loan with Reims in Ligue 1, and everything clicked for him. The young forward scored 22 goals in 39 games for Les Rouges et Blancs.
Finally, Balogun made a permanent switch to Monaco, where the goals have dried up a little bit, but he’s now a fully-fledged international, having declared for the USA.
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6. Joe Willock – €30m
Injuries have plagued Willock recently, but when he plays, he plays. The ex-Arsenal man went on loan to Newcastle before the Saudi money poured into Geordieland.
He basically saved the Toon’s season by scoring eight goals in 14 games, and made the move permanent in the summer.
Willock—or Willockinho as his Brazilian midfield colleagues call him on Tyneside—is still a favourite in Newcastle, but he was plagued by recurring injuries in 2023-24.
When he’s fit, the Wizard of Walthamstow (just made that up) glides across the pitch beautifully. Big year coming up for him.
5. Eddie Nketiah – €3om
Nketiah has become a kind of modern-day Ole Gunnar Solskjaer figure, making a living as a substitute striker. Mikel Arteta appears to prefer the intricate link-up play of Kai Havertz to the traditional forward play of Nketiah, and Eddie could find himself on the move soon.
4. Serge Gnabry – €40m
Not good enough for Arsenal, not good enough for West Brom… 86 goals in 238 games for Bayern Munich, five Bundesligas and a Champions League, and counting.
To be fair, if Tony Pulis basically said we were sh*t, we’d probably spend the rest of our life striving to prove him wrong. Not that we’re suggesting that’s what Gnabry is doing. Intentional or not, he has made Pulis look a right mug.
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3. Michael Olise – €55m
The one that got away. Olise is the silkiest winger in the business right now and, after lighting up Crystal Palace for the past couple of years, has just signed on to team up with Serge Gnabry at Bayern.
Massive things ahead for Micky Olise. If it rains, he’s f*cked, because there is no ceiling on how far this man’s talents can take him.
2. Harry Kane – €100m
We’ve all seen the pictures of Kane in Arsenal shirt, looking a little bit like that little skinhead kid from This Is England. That only lasted a year, though.
The England captain did then spend five years in the Tottenham youth system followed by four loans before the Spurs faithful started singing about him being one of their own.
As you know, Kane moved to Bayern Munich in search of trophies at the start of the 2023-24 season, scored 44 goals in 45 games, and won sweet f*ck all. You couldn’t write it. A potential ex-Arsenal academy front-three at Bayern next season, though!
1. Bukayo Saka – €140m
Starboy has just pretty much dragged his country to a European Championship final. No surprise, then, that he is top of this list. He’s still only 22 years old—eight years younger than Harry Kane—and is arguably the best right winger in Europe right now.
A true national treasure.