Arsenal’s exciting Hale End star could be their own Kobbie Mainoo
Arsenal taking influence from Manchester United? Ha, now there's a pretty awful thought to behold.
Under their latest managers, Mikel Arteta and Erik ten Hag, the clubs have headed in two separate directions.
While Arsenal are fighting on two fronts, sitting at the top of the Premier League and in the Champions League quarter-finals, United have been dumped out of Europe and are sixth in the table, half a dozen points off Tottenham in fifth.
Why, therefore, would Arteta take influence from anything going on at Old Trafford? Well, a certain Kobbie Mainoo stands as a testament to why you should always hand opportunities to your young players.
The Arsenal boss knows that first hand having been the man to nurture the likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, two Hale End graduates, but since then opportunities for academy players haven't been too forthcoming in N5.
Kobbie Mainoo's rise at Man United
Heading into the 2023/24 campaign the 18-year-old United star had been seen on just three occasions at senior level.
That's hardly a surprise really. They had spent £70m on Casemiro in 2022 and were hellbent on utilising the likes of Fred and Scott McTominay.
While Fred has departed Old Trafford, the other two names remain. Yet, it's Mainoo who is shining brightest.
He first started a league outing in their 3-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park late last year and since that moment hasn't looked back. Now a fixture in the England set-up, too good for Gareth Southgate to ignore, Ten Hag is also finding it tricky to drop the teenager. Indeed, Mainoo has missed just two league games since that Everton win.
What does he offer? Well, his coach at U18 level Travis Binnion paints a rather nice picture: “His strengths are close control, good awareness, body contact. He’s really good in both boxes, he’s combative. He’s got a nice blend of many skills," he told The Athletic in 2022.
So, do Arsenal have any players like Mainoo in their academy?
Arsenal's answer to Kobbie Mainoo
Given the meteoric rise of the football club under Arteta's watch in the last few years, the Spaniard hasn't found the opportunity to hand many first-team chances to those in the academy.
One lucky soul has been Ethan Nwaneri. He became the youngest player in Premier League history at 15 years, five months and 28 days in the 2022/23 campaign when he came off the bench against Brentford. Since then Nwaneri has only been seen once more after he was substituted onto the field in the 6-0 victory over West Ham.
#1 Ethan Nwaneri
15 years, 5 months, 28 days
2022: Brentford
#2 Cesc Fabregas
16 years, 5 months, 24 days
2003: Rotherham
#3 Jack Wilshere
16 years, 8 months, 12 days
2008: Blackburn
#4 Jermaine Pennant
16 years, 10 months, 15 days
1999: Middlesbrough
#5 Paul Vaessen
16 years, 11 months, 11 days
1978: Lokomotive Leipzig
#6 Ryan Smith
16 years, 11 months, 18 days
2003: Rotherham
#7 Gedion Zelalem
16 years, 11 months, 29 days
2014: Coventry
#8 Armand Traore
17 years, 16 days
2006: West Brom
He has a partner in crime, however, who we're yet to see earn senior minutes; Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Aged 17, the talented teen has trained with the first team on multiple occasions and has been fielded in various squads without making the pitch.
Lewis-Skelly was on the bench against Lens in the Champions League last year and sat among the subs for the clash with Brighton in the league back in December.
It feels a matter of time before the youngster makes his debut. Rated incredibly highly by those at the Emirates, he offers similar qualities to the aforementioned Mainoo.
Primarily a central midfielder, analyst Ben Mattinson has described the Hale End star as a "crazy athlete, insane ball-carrier with physicality and tackling ability."
A player capable of a lung-busting run forward to break the lines, Lewis-Skelly isn't all just power. Like Mainoo he has the technical elegance to dazzle opponents with Mattinson outlining his "turn radius" as one notable strength.
That's one area where Man United's wonderkid thrives too. We saw that in the dramatic FA Cup quarter-final between Ten Hag's side and Liverpool. It's also something national team boss Southgate has identified. "To get Kobbie on the pitch was a brilliant moment for him and his family," he said. "You saw a couple of turns and composed moments. There's a bit of an indication about what he might become."
We're not suggesting we'll see Lewis-Skelly anywhere near England recognition in a years time but he clearly possesses the same intricate qualities that makes Mainoo such a special talent.
What might set him apart is his versatility. The Standard suggested last week that he's someone the senior coaching staff at Arsenal thinks could become a left-back in the mould of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
For now, however, they suggest the plan is to keep him in a no.8 setting, learning from none other than Declan Rice. That's not a bad player to be tutored by, is it?
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast's In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.