The Gunners are reaping the reward from their brand-new approach to the loan system and will look to continue with the same in the future.
In a dismal season for Arsenal, one of the few positives that fans have had to hold on to has been the progress of their young players. Bukayo Saka has really stood but perhaps the name that took some by surprise is Emile Smith Rowe, whose introduction to the side coincided with a massive upturn in form for the Gunners.
One group of people who weren’t shocked at all about the 20-year-old’s rise to Arteta’s first team this campaign were those who worked with him at Huddersfield Town.
Smith Rowe had a fruitful loan spell with the Terriers in 2019/20 and, speaking this week, his manager at the time Danny Cowley has revealed the specific conditions he and his coaching staff had to meet to secure the Hale Ender’s temporary signature.
“We first watched Emile play for Arsenal under-23s at Boreham Wood and followed his progress,” said Cowley – who now manages Portsmouth”.
“At Huddersfield, our then head of football, Dave Webb, was a family friend, which gave us a way in. We then met mum and dad, who are teachers, and got a connection there.
“Emile had had a really disappointing time at Leipzig, who’d paid about £2million for the loan and then he’d got injured in the first couple of weeks. He was young and in Germany on his own.
“The way Leipzig play is a very high-pressing game, extremely different to how Arsenal plays. As a consequence, they broke him quite early.
“That meant we worked really hard with Arsenal to look after him. We put in a huge amount of work to make that transition as smooth as possible – which meant we had him available to us for virtually the whole season.
“At that time, though, Emile wasn’t able to physically play 90 minutes on the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, so we agreed with Arsenal that we’d manage his minutes. I would have to take him off at 60 minutes and the crowd would murder me!”
This tailored utilization of the loan system represents a stark contrast between how Arsenal used to handle the development of their youngsters who wanted to get game time at the senior level.
Perhaps the most egregious example of the Gunners’ lax approach to finding the right destination for their young talent was the decision to send Serge Gnabry out on loan to Tony Pulis’ West Brom in the 2015/16 season.
Unsurprisingly, the German did not fit stylistically to what Pulis was trying to do at the Hawthorns and managed just one substitute appearance in six months there.
Having seen the value of their Hale End academy, though, the way Arsenal have begun to use the loan market to their advantage has changed dramatically.
Ben Knapper was appointed as the club’s first-ever loans manager in January 2019 and is in charge of ensuring that the Gunners’ talents get the most from their spells away from the club.
Speaking earlier this year, young center-back Mark McGuinness, who has spent the past season on loan at Ipswich, revealed he is in regular contact with Knapper to check up on his progression.
Having seen this much more considered approach to youth development elsewhere work to prepare the likes of Smith Rowe for the first team, there is now plenty of excitement around the club over what could come next.
Joe Willock has obviously caught the headlines in his time with Newcastle, but Harry Clarke, Daniel Ballard and Zech Medley have all had good spells away from the club that will either make them useful assets to the senior side or players whose value could go up should they need to be sold on in the transfer market.
While not every loan has gone to plan, Arsenal’s change in direction when it comes to the system has already paid dividends and looks set to do so for years to come.