The 7 academy players Arsenal released in 2021 & how they’ve fared

The Arsenal academy is one of the best in the country and now they’re beginning to see the profit of their investment in the youngsters. But what about those players who don’t quite make it at the club?

Players like Gabriel Martinelli, Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka have thrived in Mikel Arteta’s first team as the club pushes for the Champions League places.

Yet not all their youth colleagues made the same step up.

Arsenal released seven Academy players last year, and so we’ve decided to go through and see whether the club let any future stars slip through the net.

Kieran Petrie

Why would Arsenal release a guy who, two years ago, got top bins on BBC Sport’s rising ballers programme?

That’s the question we had to ask ourselves after the club released Petrie last year.

He joined Swansea Under-18s but left in January by mutual consent and is without a club currently.

Arsenal’s Kieran Petrie hit top bins on a bov one Link below to watch our new Wonderkids series for @BBCSport https://t.co/3STQVona8L pic.twitter.com/uQiNptCnqG

— Rising Ballers (@RisingBallers_) February 17, 2020

Laing left at the end of the 2020-21 campaign and immediately signed with fellow London side West Ham.

But this was no academy contract, with Laing given a senior deal right away.

It was a shrewd move by the Hammers, who have a tradition of not only producing their own brilliant players but poaching some of the best to leave other London clubs’ academies, like Declan Rice from Chelsea.

Laing has been a regular for the Hammers’ Under-23s and will be hoping to get a good loan next year or an opportunity for his first-team debut.

The only thing you need to know about Plange is he pulled off a double nutmeg in the Championship.

It doesn’t matter what