When it comes to the best academies in world football, Arsenal’s Hale End has to rank right up there.
The North Londoners have a proud history of producing some genuine world-beaters like Tony Adams, Ashley Cole and David Rocastle.
This incredible conveyor belt of talent has continued into the present with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri, and Myles Lewis-Skelly all first-team regulars.
Unfortunately, with so many incredible players coming through the system, Arsenal are bound to let some slip through the gaps, which is what happened with Harry Kane.
Worse yet, another star who left the club under Mikel Arteta has recently been compared to the England captain.
Youngsters Arsenal let slip through the gaps
Before getting to Kane, it’s worth looking at a couple of the other youngsters Arsenal let slip through their fingers, like Michael Olise.
Yes, while it’s not as widely known, before he spent time in the academies of Chelsea, Manchester City and Reading, the French superstar spent time with the Gunners.
The only saving grace here is that his potential return to Stamford Bridge a couple of years ago fell apart, as his incredible output of 24 goals and 25 assists for Bayern Munich could have seen the Blues become a genuine title rival.
Sticking with Bayern players, and another youngster the Gunners should have kept hold of was Serge Gnabry.
Now, the German did make it out of Hale End, and even played some games under Arsène Wenger, but following a poor loan move to West Bromwich Albion, the North Londoners sold him to Werder Bremen for around £5m.
This was a huge mistake, as just a year later the Bavarian behemoths came in for him and, following another year out on loan, he would go on to become a serious star for them, racking up 159 goal involvements in 291 games.
Finally, the most infamous example of Arsenal releasing a player too young is the now legendary Kane, who was let go at just 12 years old due to concerns that he simply wasn’t good enough.
Since then, the England captain has made the Gunners regret that decision time after time, with an outrageous tally of 402 goals and 108 assists in 616 games.
Moreover, his record against the North Londoners is outrageous, with him scoring 15 goals and providing two assists in just 21 appearances.
In short, Arsenal got it wrong when it came to Kane, and now, a player who left under Arteta has since been compared to him.
The former Arsenal star compared to Kane
When thinking of former Arsenal players who could have been compared to Kane, your mind might immediately go to someone who was prolific for the club, like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
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However, instead of the Gabonese phenom, the player in question is his former striker partner, Alexandre Lacazette.
Yes, while it might be somewhat surprising, the 34-year-old is the forward who has been compared to the Bayern ace, and it stems from FBref.
They compare players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then create a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, have concluded that the Englishman was the fifth most similar forward to the Frenchman over the last 365 days – before his move to NEOM SC in the Saudi Pro League.
We can gain a better understanding of just how this conclusion was reached by examining some of the underlying numbers in which the pair ranked closely.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals
0.51
0.50
Progressive Carries
1.05
1.09
Goals per Shot
0.19
0.16
Expected Assists
0.21
0.21
Live Passes
22.4
23.4
Blocks
0.57
0.60
Carries
18.3
19.4
These include metrics such as, but not limited to, progressive carries, goals per shot, expected non-penalty goals, blocks, expected assists and more, all per 90.
Now, nobody would try to claim that the former Gunners ace, who left the club for nothing in 2022, is as good a player as the former Spurs star.
However, on top of the statistical similarities, he enjoyed something of a career revival upon his return to France, and before he left for Saudi Arabia.
For example, in his first season back with Lyon, the dangerous “goal machine,” as dubbed by former teammate Sokratis, scored 31 goals and provided six assists in 39 games, which he then followed up with 22 goals and five assists in 35 games the season after, before racking up 19 goals and three assists in 42 games last year.
Ultimately, it was probably right to let Lacazette leave when he did, but we can’t help but wonder if Arteta and Co wish they had kept hold of him for just a season or two longer, given his form over the last few years.
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