Arsenal’s famous Hale End academy must be one of the finest in the country, producing talents such as Ashley Cole, Jack Wilshere and Cesc Fabregas throughout the years and these three have enjoyed stellar careers at the top of the game.
The previous few years have seen more and more players make a breakthrough into the first team and the current bunch may be the best yet, led by a certain Bukayo Saka.
The Englishman has been outstanding since bursting onto the scene in the 2019/20 campaign, making 26 Premier League appearances, proving to be a revelation under Mikel Arteta since then.
The 21-year-old has really taken his game to next level since the beginning of last season, showing a wonderful mentality to bounce back from missing a vital penalty in England’s Euro 2020 final shootout defeat to Italy by scoring 25 times and registering 17 assists.
Now, he is currently spearheading the Gunners’ charge for league glory this term with a collective haul of 23 goal involvements.
The question now is, who can become the next Saka and forge their way into Arteta’s thoughts over the next few years? Young prodigy Osman Kamara might just be the player who can follow in his footsteps.
Who is Osman Kamara?
The 16-year-old operates as a left-winger and is in a similar mould to Saka.
Indeed, the teenager has a keen eye for goal and can create plenty of chances for his teammates, displaying an extremely selfless nature.
The statistics certainly back this up as he has scored seven times and grabbed three assists in just 19 matches across both U18 and U21 level, made more impressive by the fact he just joined the younger age group at the start of the current season.
Jeorge Bird profiled the player via his Arsenal youth blog and stated that Kamara often likes to ‘drop deep to receive the ball’ while ‘capable of linking up play well’. Certainly, these are similar traits to Saka who has linked up extremely well with Ben White and Martin Odegaard this term down the right-hand side.
The England international's heatmap from this season proves that he loves to drop deep to get the ball before making inroads towards the opposition penalty area, as Kamara does.
Gooner Fanzine editor Layth Yousif recently praised the youngster for his performance against Watford U18s in February, when the teen scored a precious equaliser, saying:
“He’s been an influential presence in this game since replacing Seb Ferdinand at the break as he also won Cozier-Duberry’s penalty.”
The Hale End sensation is already making his mark in the U18 age group but still has plenty of time to develop and if he continues his current upwards trajectory, it may be hard for Arteta to ignore him for much longer.
Of course, there is plenty of competition in the youth ranks, with Kamara set to battle it out with the aforementioned Cozier-Duberry and co, but either could potentially burst onto the scene in the coming years, hoping to make that vital Saka-like impact on Arteta's senior ranks.