Arsenal are a club with a proud history of developing and promoting young talent into the first team.
Mikel Arteta has carried that tradition on during his time, with the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and now Max Dowman all getting chances under him.
However, when it comes to the most successful Hale End product under the Spaniard’s stewardship, it’s hard to ignore Bukayo Saka, who has become a world-class superstar in recent years.
So, fans should be very excited about another young prospect making his way through the academy, who has been likened to a young version of the England international.
Saka's academy journey
Saka joined Hale End as a seven-year-old, with him later revealing that it was his father who pushed for him to join the club over others.
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The Ealing-born gem made his debut for the club’s U18 against Fulham in August 2017, a game the Gunners would lose 4-1.
The youngster would end that season with a respectable haul of eight goals and four assists in 22 games.
The following year, he made just six appearances for the U18S and 24 for the U23S, scoring six goals and providing nine assists for the latter.
However, that was also the season in which he made his first-team debut, away to Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava in the Europa League group stage, under Unai Emery.
At this point, the exciting prospect was still very much seen as a left-sided attacker and had made just a single appearance on the right across both campaigns.
The 19/20 season brought the end of Saka’s time in the academy setup, as he made just one appearance for the U23s in a Premier League 2 game against Everton, which they drew.
Appearances
28
25
Goals
16
6
Assists
6
9
In all, the now 24-year-old made 28 appearances for Arsenal’s U18s, in which he produced 22 goal involvements and 25 appearances for the U23s, in which he produced 15.
Everyone now knows how the rest of the story goes, and so fans should be excited that there is another Hale End talent currently being compared to Saka.
Arsenal's next Saka
With the likes of Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly and now Dowman, it feels like Hale End can’t stop producing incredible talents, and the next one off the line might just be Brando Bailey-Joseph.
The 17-year-old has been so impressive in recent months that, despite only signing scholarship terms with the club a few months ago, he has already put pen to paper on a professional deal.
Moreover, according to one analyst, he is currently looking “very reminiscent of a young Saka.”
The argument he puts forward is that, like the Gunners’ talisman, there has been a lot more talk around other youngsters in the academy over him, and he is just quietly plugging away in the background.
Appearances
16
Minutes
1098′
Goals
4
Assists
4
Goal Involvements per Match
0.5
Minutes per Goal Involvement
137.25′
For example, in 16 appearances this term, totalling 1098 minutes, he has scored four goals and provided four assists.
That comes out to an average of a goal involvement every other game, or every 137.25 minutes, which would be pretty good for a striker, let alone a winger who has been moved between both sides over and over again.
In addition to the output, the analyst also points out that, like Arteta’s mercurial number seven, he has shown an “incredible technical” ability in the academy.
This is an opinion shared by Hale End expert Will Balsam, who claims that the youngster’s “fire feet, chopping into the grass constantly, make it impossible for defenders to know what’s coming.”
Ultimately, while it’s so early in his journey, Bailey-Joseph looks like he could be the next Hale End star to make it in the first team and follow in Saka’s footsteps on the wing.
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