Arsenal’s 11 best academy players of all time

Arsenal’s Hale End academy has once again taken centre stage this season as they continue to produce talents for the first team at an impressive rate.

While Mikel Arteta’s side have seen the likes of Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe all move on to other Premier League sides since graduating from the academy under the Spaniard’s tutelage, youth continues to dominate the Arsenal squad.

Now, it is a mantle taken up by precocious talents Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, both of whom are already staking their claims to be first-team regulars as the Gunners look to challenge for major honours this season and in the years to come.

They would not be the first academy stars to step up and become key men for the first team, and indeed Arsenal have an excellent record of promoting youth to help inspire success. With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at the 11 best players to have come out of their academy, focusing mostly on the ones who have made a telling impact at Highbury and the Emirates Stadium.

11

Emile Smith Rowe

2018-2024

Affectionately known by Arsenal fans as the “Croydon De Bruyne”, Emile Smith Rowe made the move to north London from south London at an early age and came through the ranks as part of a strong crop of Arsenal talent.

After several loan spells away, he was finally thrown into the first team by Mikel Arteta in 2020 and made an almost instant impact, playing a central role as Arsenal’s form improved drastically in what was otherwise a tough behind-closed-doors season for the club.

Alongside Bukayo Saka, he ushered in a new feel-good factor at the Emirates Stadium in the early parts of the 2021/22 campaign, hitting 10 goals as Arsenal finished fifth.

Injuries and new signings pushed him down the pecking order in north London in the seasons that followed, and he was sold to Fulham in a £34m deal in the summer of 2024, becoming the Cottagers’ record signing and recouping the second-largest transfer fee in Arsenal’s history.

10

Michael Thomas

1986-1992

“It’s up for grabs now!”

An iconic line of commentary accompanied the goal that forever etched Michael Thomas into the Arsenal history books, with the Lambeth-born star scoring the winning goal against Liverpool in the 1988/89 season to crown Arsenal as First Division champions at Anfield ahead of the hosts – an event that is considered one of the greatest in the club’s history.

A midfielder by trade, Thomas appeared over 200 times for the Gunners alongside several partners as he helped Arsenal challenge at the top of English football before falling out with George Graham and eventually being sold to Liverpool, where he racked up another 150 appearances.

9

Paul Merson

1986-1997

Also part of that title-winning side of 1989 was a young Paul Merson, a tricky winger who was capable of playing on either flank.

Merson appeared over 400 times for the Gunners across an 11-year stint with the senior side, and after being on the fringes of the squad, it was the 1988/89 campaign where he really rose to prominence, playing 37 of their 38 league games and finding the net 10 times, before going on to better that figure in 1990/91 as Arsenal tasted title success once more.

Winning every domestic trophy with the Gunners across his 11 years with the club, Merson was another instance of the academy striking gold.

8

Andy Cole

1989-1992

Though none of his success came in north London, it felt wrong leaving out one of the Premier League’s greatest goalscorers.

Cole only ever played twice for Arsenal’s first team before he was sold to Bristol City, but proved everyone in north London wrong as he scooped five Premier League titles across a storied career that spanned spells at Manchester United, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers, among others.

A poacher who found the net 34 times in a single season for Newcastle, Cole was a part of Manchester United’s 1999 treble-winning side, and at the time of writing, he sits fourth in the list of Premier League all-time goalscorers with 187, though Mohamed Salah may soon have something to say about that.

7

Jack Wilshere

2008-2018

Perhaps the last great academy talent of Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal reign, plenty of Gunners fans will go to bed wondering what Jack Wilshere could have become had he been able to stay fit, such was his immense talent.

Announcing himself to the world aged just 19 in the Champions League as he bossed a midfield consisting of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, there was plenty of hype around Wilshere both in Arsenal and England colours.

But injuries meant that the 2010/11 campaign remained the highlight of his career, with Wilshere unable to replicate his availability in any of the campaigns that followed. Nonetheless, his rise remained a source of inspiration for those in the academy, and he returned to the Arsenal setup as a coach following his early retirement from the game.

6

Martin Keown

1984-1985 and 1993-2004

Martin Keown’s Arsenal career was far from straightforward, with the defender coming through the academy, but failing to break into the first team, leading to Arsenal selling the Englishman to Aston Villa in 1986.

After seven years at the top, the Gunners opted to bring him back to north London, and it was in this second spell that he became a cornerstone of Arsenal’s history.

A regular in defence, he helped shepherd Arsenal to three Premier League titles, including being a bit-part feature of their famous Invincibles campaign, going on to make almost 450 appearances for his boyhood club.

5

Ray Parlour

1991-2004

Like Keown, Parlour’s final flourish in Arsenal colours came as a part of the Invincibles squad as he helped Arsenal go unbeaten across the 2003/04 campaign. It was the end of a storied career in north London for the “Romford Pele”, which saw him make a mammoth 465 appearances for the club as an industrious, rather than prolific, midfielder.

A fan favourite for his work rate, Parlour enjoyed a trophy-laden time in north London, winning a League Cup, three Premier League titles and four FA Cups.

4

Bukayo Saka

2018-present

The current poster boy of Arsenal, Bukayo Saka is rapidly making his way up these rankings.

Since making his debut in the 2018/19 Europa League under Unai Emery, the Englishman has made himself a talismanic figure for both club and country despite still being just 23 years old.

He has helped spearhead back-to-back title charges in north London, though on both occasions his side have fallen short. So far, he has just a single FA Cup to show for his efforts at the Emirates Stadium, but if he remains at Arsenal, he will surely go down as one of their best-ever players, and almost certainly their best academy talent.

3

Tony Adams

1983-2002

Nicknamed “Mr Arsenal”, Tony Adams spent 20 years at the top level with the Gunners in a controversial career. Adams was a key part of Arsenal’s famous back four during the 1990s, and won four top-flight titles during his time in north London.

Though struggling with addiction and being sent to prison on one occasion, he remained a fabulous footballer when he took to the pitch, racking up a massive 655 appearances for the club he joined as a youth.

Such was his impact, he is one of four statues currently outside Arsenal’s home ground, as rock-solid in retirement as he was during his playing career.

2

Ashley Cole

1999-2006

From one of Arsenal’s most popular players to arguably their least, Ashley Cole was England’s best left-back for the best part of two decades, racking up over 100 caps for the national team.

He was successful at Arsenal, too, playing 32 times in the Invincibles season and looking like a cornerstone of Wenger’s side before swapping north London for west London as he joined Chelsea on a free transfer.

With Arsenal’s rivals, he was even more successful, winning the Champions League, Europa League, the Premier League and four FA Cups. Though unpopular, he was one of Arsenal’s best youth products.

1

David O’Leary

1975-1993

Though not the most successful, David O’Leary tops our list. The Republic of Ireland defender is Arsenal’s record appearance-holder, having turned out on a mammoth 722 occasions across the Gunners backline – over 50 more than any other player to have played for the club.

In a career spanning almost two decades, O’Leary went from helping Arsenal avoid relegation at just 17 to winning the First Division in 1989, and though he struggled with injuries in his final seasons in north London, he was always more than ready to put in a shift when asked to.