The CIES Football Observatory haven’t named any Arsenal players on their list of the 50 most promising u20 prospects in Europe.
The Observatory analysed league minutes for u20 players in 22 European competitions over the last two years.
They then weighted the results on the basis of the sporting level of each league and the success of the players’ clubs. As a result, they predicted which young prospects have the best career prospects.
Only two players from England made it into the top 10, Tom Davies of Everton (7th) and Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham (10th). Leeds’ Ronaldo Vieira is ranked 20th, Manchester loanee Timothy Fosu-Mensah is 32nd and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is 41st.
The other 45 prospects came from abroad.
Here are the top 10 prospects over all 22 competitions:
1. 1. Gianluigi Donnarumma
Milan (ITA)
2. 2. Alban Lafont
Toulouse (FRA)
3. 3. Kylian Mbappe
Monaco (FRA)
4. 4. Christian Pulisic
Dortmund (ITA)
5. 5. Malang Sarr
Nice (FRA)
6. 6. Dayot Upamecano
RB Leipzig (GER)
7. 7. Tom Davies
Everton (ENG)
8. 8. Matthijs de Ligt
Ajax (NED)
9. 9. Kai Havertz
Leverkusen (GER)
10. 10. Ryan Sessegnon
Fulham (ENG)
The exact constraints of the analysis stopped most of Arsenal’s young prospects having a chance on the list.
Players like Alex Iwobi (21) and Hector Bellerin (22) are now too old for the list.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (20) was promoted to the first team this year, and Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson (all 18) are only in their debut season.
Perhaps they’ll have a chance of making the same list in a year or two, but not just yet.