Stefan Borson shares Arsenal transfer ‘problem’ as academy plan revealed
Arsenal are looking to improve their academy production following some of their Premier League rivals’ recent success.
Manchester City have made big profits from the sales of their academy stars, providing their transfer budget with a boost.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have sold multiple players in a bid to balance out their recent heavy spending.
Although Mikel Arteta’s side are yet to cash in on some of their young stars, several academy products have been integrated into the first team.
Max Dowman has featured for Arsenal’s first team this season, while Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri have emerged on the scene over the past couple of years.
What is Arsenal’s record player sale?
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Arsenal’s “problem” has been that they’ve previously failed to sell players at the right time.
The Gunners’ record sale saw Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain join Liverpool for £35million in 2017.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “I think all these clubs will almost see their academies as a separate profit center to be very boring about the business side of it and not emotional about the footballer side of it.
“But if you can get a player who’s of the necessary quality plus has that link with the club, then that’s where everything works. Maybe Arsenal have done it, especially with someone like Dowman, and Saka before him.
“I think Arsenal is an interesting one in this regard because, although they’ve not sold that well over the years, they do have some very big wins in terms of these players emerging.”
Emile Smith Rowe is Arsenal’s biggest academy sale, having joined Fulham in August 2024 in a deal that could rise to £34m in add-ons.
Arsenal ‘missed the window’ to agree big-money deals
Borson believes Arsenal have largely failed to sell players when their value has been at its highest.
“I think the problem that Arsenal found in the past is they’ve just not sold at the right time,” said Borson.
“They certainly didn’t sell Wilshire at the right time. Whether they have missed the window or have allowed a dip in value for someone like Nwaneri, similar to Smith Rowe that went to Fulham.
“There’s an optimal window to sell some of these players, whereas City have generally done it quite well. They got it wrong obviously on Cole Palmer, but there’s generally a window where you can just maximise what that fee is.
“I think sometimes Arsenal have held on for a bit too long, players have gone a bit stale, and they’ve ended up taking a lower fee than maybe they could have done a year before. But I think if you were to do an analysis, they’ve had a decent hit rate recently.”
Arsenal currently sit top of the Premier League table, three points above second-place Man City after eight games.
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