Mikel Arteta has had a transformative impact on Arsenal Football Club.
The Spaniard’s tactical and philosophical approach has significantly altered the team’s style of play on the field, while also influencing the club’s operations off the pitch.
In terms of financial investment, Arteta has encouraged the board to make substantial signings, including players such as Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, and Riccardo Calafiori.
Simultaneously, the North London club has improved its selling strategy, as demonstrated by the recent summer transfer window.
Nevertheless, despite the successful transfers Arteta has managed in recent years, he has also made some missteps, including the departure of a promising academy player who left without making any first-team appearances and is now valued significantly higher than the transfer fee Arsenal received.
Academy players sold by Arsenal
Prior to discussing the specific player in question, it is important to examine some of the other youth talents that Arsenal has transferred during Arteta’s management, beginning with a particularly astute sale: Eddie Nketiah.
The Hale End graduate proved to be a valuable asset during his tenure at Arsenal, accumulating 168 first-team appearances before being sold to Crystal Palace for an impressive £30 million in the summer.
The remarkable nature of this transfer fee is underscored by the fact that, throughout his time in North London, the English forward managed to score only 38 goals and contribute seven assists.
| Nketiah’s Arsenal record | |
|---|---|
| Club | Arsenal |
| Appearances | 168 |
| Minutes | 7000′ |
| Goals | 38 |
| Assists | 7 |
| Goal Involvements per Match | 0.26 |
| Minutes per Goal Involvement | 155.55′ |
| All Stats via Transfermarkt | |
In his final season with the club, the 25-year-old managed to score only six goals and provide three assists across 37 matches, indicating that he was not a pivotal player for Arteta and his team.
Another player from Hale End who was sold by Arteta is Folarin Balogun, who still holds the record for the highest number of goals scored for the club’s U21 team, totaling an impressive 37.
Despite showcasing remarkable talent during his loan spell at Ligue 1 club Stade Reims in the 2022/23 season, where he netted 22 goals and assisted three times in 39 appearances, the American international was not assured a starting position in Arteta’s squad upon his return.
Consequently, rather than loaning him out again, the club decided to transfer the promising forward to AS Monaco for a substantial fee of approximately £34 million. Given that he has only scored 11 goals and provided five assists in 42 appearances since then, it can be concluded that this was a shrewd sale for the North London club.
Regrettably, the same cannot be said for another former academy talent who is currently excelling on the French Riviera and is now valued significantly higher than the price at which he was sold.
The youngster Arsenal sold too soon
While players like Nketiah and Balogun were transferred at opportune moments and for sums exceeding their current market value, the same cannot be said for Mika Biereth.
The young Danish talent joined Arsenal’s academy from Fulham in the summer of 2021. After a disappointing loan spell at RKC Waalwijk during the 2022/23 season, he experienced a significantly more fruitful season the following year.
In the first half of the 2023/24 season, he netted six goals and provided five assists in 15 matches for Motherwell. His performance improved even further in the latter half of the season, where he scored nine goals and assisted four times in 22 appearances for Austrian club Sturm Graz.
This impressive performance prompted the title-winning team to invest £4 million in him during the summer. Unsurprisingly, the 22-year-old striker continued his excellent form at the beginning of this season.
In just 25 matches, the London-born forward accumulated 14 goals and five assists, which attracted the attention of Monaco, who subsequently invested £10.8 million plus £1.75 million in add-ons for the young Dane.
This indicates that the former academy prospect’s value has surged by approximately 213% since his departure from Arsenal. Moreover, his performance in Ligue 1 suggests he could have been a surprising enhancement over Kai Havertz.
For instance, during his time on the French Riviera, this “crazy” talent, as described by former GOAL reporter Robin Bairner, has scored 11 goals and provided three assists in 12 appearances, totaling 860 minutes. This equates to an average of 1.16 goal involvements per game, or one every 61.42 minutes, for a team competing in one of the top five leagues.
| Biereth (Monaco) vs Havertz | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player | Biereth | Havertz |
| Appearances | 12 | 34 |
| Minutes | 860′ | 2776′ |
| Goals | 11 | 15 |
| Assists | 3 | 5 |
| Goal Involvements per Match | 1.16 | 0.58 |
| Minutes per Goal Involvement | 61.42′ | 138.8′ |
| All Stats via Transfermarkt | ||
In contrast, the former Chelsea player managed to achieve a total of 15 goals and five assists across 34 matches, amounting to 2,776 minutes of play.
This indicates that, before his injury, the German international was contributing to a goal every 1.7 games, or approximately every 138.8 minutes. While this is a respectable statistic, it pales in comparison to the performance of the Monaco player.
Overall, Arteta and Arsenal have generally excelled in their transfer dealings in recent years. However, considering Biereth’s successful adaptation to Ligue 1 this season and the striker challenges faced by the Gunners, it raises questions about the wisdom of selling the Danish player.
Leave a Reply