The next player off of Arsenal’s famed “Hale End” production line is thought to be youngster Charlie Patino. Indeed, Brian Stapleton, long-time Gunners scout, recently provided an insight into Patino’s prodigious talents, revealing:

‘Of all the years I’ve been scouting, he’s the best kid I’ve ever seen.’

‘I got a tip off about Charlie from a guy, so I went over there and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He was 11 and I think he was playing in the Under-13s, and I was like ‘wow’.’

‘His first touch was unbelievable, his vision, his awareness of space. He was way above his years, he was on another planet to anyone else on the pitch.’

‘I made a phone call to my head of my department at Arsenal at the time, Sean O’Connor. He asked what I thought and I said, ‘well, I’m not coming back again. I don’t need to see any more, you need to sign this kid straight away.’

Quotes via Goal

Patino has continued to impress in the opening weeks of the PL2 season, leading to calls from the Arsenal faithful to see him thrown into the first team for their third-round Carabao Cup tie against Wimbledon.

Patino unlikely to start at the Emirates

However, if Mikel Arteta’s pre-match press conference is anything to go by, it seems unlikely that Patino will be thrust into action from the off at least.

Speaking on his team selection, the Arsenal boss revealed:

“I hope that I can put out the strongest team I can. That means that the players have performed really well. Let’s see who’s available and what is the best way to approach the game.”

With Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Thomas Partey and Sambi Lokonga all fit in midfield, Gunners fans may have to wait a little while longer to see their latest prodigy in action.