Arsenal’s academy is entering a new era after a period of significant change at Hale End.
Per Mertesacker stepped down as academy director during the summer after eight years in the role, moving to the German FA as managing director, a position he will begin in January. Under-21 head coach Max Porter also departed, taking up the role of assistant manager at Stoke City.
Their exits left a major leadership gap at a time when academy pathways are increasingly valuable, with clubs placing greater emphasis on homegrown players and the financial rewards they can generate.
That vacancy has now been filled by a new structure led by Mertesacker’s successor, Pascal De Maesschalck, as Arsenal look to restore Hale End’s reputation as one of football’s leading talent factories.
The academy’s proud legacy includes producing Arsenal greats such as Tony Adams, Ashley Cole and Jack Wilshere.
More recently, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Max Dowman have all impressed in Mikel Arteta’s first team, joining Hale End’s standout graduate Bukayo Saka.
New Arsenal academy director Pascal De Maesschalck with academy operations manager Lee Herron
Arsenal are searching for the next standout talent from an academy that has recently produced Max Dowman, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly
However, that impressive first-team output concealed difficulties beneath the surface. Arsenal’s Under-21s won only eight of their 21 Premier League 2 matches last season, including a heavy 7-0 defeat by Liverpool in January.
A 4-2 Under-19 victory over Bayern Munich in the UEFA Youth League in November 2025, inspired by two goals from Dowman after he dropped back down to that age group, ended a 16-match winless run involving the Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 teams. Dowman had already made several first-team appearances by that stage.
While Arsenal’s youth sides struggled amid uncertainty over Mertesacker’s replacement, rival clubs moved quickly to exploit the situation.
Manchester City first disrupted Arsenal’s pursuit of promising Leicester City winger Jeremy Monga, whom the Gunners had been close to signing. Tottenham then won the race for West Ham’s Under-15 midfield prospect Isaac Allen. Other highly rated youngsters, including Kyran Thompson and Mishel Nduka, opted for Newcastle United and Manchester City respectively.
In recent weeks, though, Arsenal have begun to regain momentum under De Maesschalck. The 52-year-old Belgian previously served as technical director at Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg, having earlier spent 10 years as Club Brugge’s academy director and three years overseeing youth development at Monaco.
All three clubs are widely respected for developing elite talent. At Club Brugge, De Maesschalck earned a strong reputation for preparing academy players for senior football. At Monaco, he helped develop Eliesse Ben Seghir, Maghnes Akliouche and Soungoutou Magassa, who all became first-team regulars before generating significant transfer fees when they moved to Bayer Leverkusen, Paris Saint-Germain and West Ham respectively.
At Arsenal, he is understood to have been given two key objectives: make recruitment more ambitious and increase the income generated through player sales.
That strategy is already taking shape. Arsenal have previously recruited Under-18 players from Scotland and Ireland, including Callan Hamill, Evan Mooney and Ceadach O’Neill.
Arsenal lost two of their leading young talents this summer, with Mishel Nduka joining Manchester City and Kyran Thompson moving to Newcastle United
Eighteen-year-old defender Elijah Upson, the son of former Arsenal centre-back Matt, joined from Spurs
More recently, the club have stepped up efforts to recruit the best young players from other English teams. Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta pointed to that approach when discussing De Maesschalck’s appointment, highlighting his ability to “identify the best emerging talent to join Arsenal on a journey towards professional football”.
Eighteen-year-old defender Elijah Upson, whose father is former Arsenal centre-back Matt, arrived from Spurs. Midfielder Axel Donczew, 16, joined from Cardiff City, while 16-year-old Mylo Bernard moved from Crystal Palace. Arsenal are also set to beat several rivals to the signing of highly rated Blackburn Rovers striker Igor Tyjon, 18.
And then on the selling front, there’s been a move under Pascal to produce more cases like Mika Biereth and Folarin Balogun who, while not quite good enough for an Arsenal team pushing to be the best in Europe, help out on the financial side.
London-born Denmark striker Biereth was snapped up from Fulham’s academy in 2021 and sold to Sturm Graz for £4million three years later. The Austrian side then sold Biereth to Monaco in January 2025 for £12.8million, earning Arsenal more money as a result of their 30 per cent sell-on clause.
Balogun, meanwhile, was sold to Monaco for £34.3million in August 2023 after not quite making it in Arteta’s first team. After a breakout World Cup with the US national team, he has been linked to the likes of Tottenham, and has a 17.5 per cent sell-on clause. Arsenal want more of this to continue during De Maesschalck’s reign.
There’s been change in the coaching setup, too. David Horseman has stepped up from his roles as Under 19s manager and Under 21s assistant to replace Porter as Under 21s head coach, in an appointment overseen by Arteta, assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg and De Maesschalck.
It’s understood they liked Horseman’s balance of having extensive academy experience, as well as both managing and coaching in the Football League, specialising in player development.
Just two years younger than Arteta, Horseman has already spent nearly 15 years working in professional academies. He started at Bristol City, spending eight years across different positions including Under 18 manager, head of academy coaching and academy manager.
Arsenal poached Mika Biereth from Fulham’s academy in 2021 and three years later without making a first-team appearance, he was shipped off to Sturm Graz and then Monaco
Folarin Balogun couldn’t quite make the grade at Arsenal but after a breakout World Cup, his 17.5 per cent sell-on fee in the £34.3m deal that took him to Monaco could pay dividends
Under 21s head coach David Horseman leads his team through pre-season training
His forays into senior management and coaching have been more challenging. In July 2023, Horseman was appointed head coach of Forest Green Rovers but lasted just six months, winning only two of his first seven matches. He returned to Bristol City as caretaker manager alongside Lee Cattermole after Matt Taylor was sacked in December 2024, but the team were relegated at the end of the season and Horseman left.
But it’s academy expertise which the Gunners are tapping into. Before joining Arsenal in September, he had a short spell at Manchester United as a professional development phase coach. That gave him an insight into how another enormous academy operates from the inside.
For Arsenal, the overall aim is clear: produce more first-team players by raiding their English rivals, while ensuring those who don’t make the first-team grade are of the quality to be sold for worthwhile sums.
After a period of uncertainty, the academy is entering a new era under De Maesschalck with the Gunners determined to stand above the rest.
