At a Glance:
- Arsenal’s Hale End academy has seen many talents break through to the first team in the past few years
- One ex-Arsenal player has not seen his career flourish since departing the club, but thinks big things are still yet to come
Many Hale End graduates have made a lasting impact at the club, with recent years producing stars such as Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Ethan Nwaneri, as well as new kid on the block Max Dowman.
As is the nature of football, though, not all players are destined for the very top despite the early flashes they might show, and end up forging a career away from Arsenal.
For some, this will mean a career in the lower leagues of English football or playing abroad, to varying degrees of success.
One ex-Hale End talent has recently revealed what it was like to leave Arsenal, as well as his career since then, as well as his opinion on one young superstar at the club.
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Charlie Patino says his time at Arsenal was ‘difficult’ but that he still wants to be at the ‘top of the game’
Charlie Patino, at one point, was arguably the top prospect within the Arsenal academy, and would make his debut for the club in 2021 against Sunderland in the Carabao Cup—a game that would see him score his first and only senior goal after coming off the bench.
Patino would only make one more appearance for Arsenal before finding himself out on loan at Blackpool and Swansea City in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. In the summer of 2024, Patino would leave England for the nation of his ancestry, Spain, to join Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish second division.
On his time at Arsenal, Patino, speaking to SPORTbible, said:
“In my opinion, I didn’t really get a chance to go and show what I was all about [at Arsenal]… Of course it was difficult [to break into the team] at the time. Competition was strong and it was a period of transition under Mikel [Arteta]. They were also in the hunt for the league. But as I keep on saying, it’s about timing. Timing, luck, and having good people around you.
“I believe that if I got the chance now, with what I can do and my ability, then things could have been different at Arsenal.”
Although Patino never managed to become a staple of the first team at Arsenal, he believes that his time to shine is still ahead of him, now in his second season with Deportivo.
“I feel like my time will come at some point… It might be now, or in a year or two. Everything can happen in a short space of time. Football is a funny old game, and everything can change in the space of three, four, or five months. You’ve just got to keep working and the rest will take care of itself.
“I want to be at the top of the game, playing for the biggest clubs and winning the biggest competitions,” said Patino.
Max Dowman has been ‘great’ for Arsenal so far according to Patino, who admits he would love to play against him
Charlie Patino drew parallels between himself and current Arsenal youngster Max Dowman, who has featured 11 times for the Gunners at only 16 years of age, and has been tipped to do huge things in the world of football.
“What Max has done so far is great—he’s still very young, like I was when I broke through. And like me, he has still got a lot of learning and growing to do. Hopefully we’ll cross paths one day and get to play with or against each other.”
