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Arsenal open door to Charlie Patino five years after beating rivals to sign 11-year-old wonderkid
This week has seen Arsenal add three new young players to their UEFA Europa League squad, with Zane Monlouis and Omari Giraud-Hutchinson looking to strengthen their defensive and midfield options.
However, the most exciting of the trio might in fact be Charlie Patino.
The left-footed creative midfielder has seemingly impressed the Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta when joining first-team training in recent months.
included Patino on their Next Generation list for 2020 and suggested that Arteta is a fan of the player after seeing him in action back in September.
That report also commented on previous comparisons with Jack Wilshere, understandably given their similar positions, playing style, and foot preference. However, that report suggested Phil Foden, a more attacking-minded midfielder, was a more apt comparison.
Those links to Wilshere first emerged when Patino was being chased by a number of clubs at just 11-years-old.
Arsenal battled the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham to sign the player in a £10,000 deal in 2015. It was a huge battle for a player of such a young age, but those Wilshere comparisons were, at the time, very exciting.
So Arsenal fans should be excited about Patino’s inclusion in the Europa League squad. There’s no guarantee he will be making his debut anytime soon but with Arteta’s side looking strong so far and rotation likely to continue, there is no reason why this young man might not get a chance to shine for the Arsenal first-team very soon, five years after a big London battle to sign him aged 11.