Chuks Aneke could hardly have done any more this season to further enhance his growing reputation.
The 20 year old midfielder, who rose through the ranks at Arsenal’s Hale End Academy, is on the cusp of completing his second loan spell with League One side Crewe Alexandra and his tally of 16 goals in 39 appearances goes some way towards demonstrating the impact he has made this campaign.
Usually deployed as an attacking midfielder, Aneke has much more to his game than goals. He is not the quickest, but is capable of unlocking defences with precise passes and possesses considerable strength for a player his age.
He has had to be patient for his opportunity. Having failed to establish himself during loan spells with Stevenage and Preston North End, he found the perfect fit in terms of playing style with Crewe and has reaped the benefits with some superb performances.
But what happens next? Aneke is out of contract at the end of next month and, as things stand, hasn’t been provided with any assurances by Arsenal that his deal will be renewed. He has proven that he is more than capable of performing at League One level, but whether he can replicate those showings in the Premier League is a subject of considerable debate.
It seems as if that question will not be able to be answered fully until he is provided with an opportunity. It seems highly unlikely, given the array of midfield talent already at the club, that Aneke will be part of the first-team plans at Arsenal next season. Given his performances at Crewe, the club would be best advised to keep hold of him for the time being, with a loan move to either a Championship club or a struggling Premier League side perhaps the best option for all parties.
The former England U19 international has previously caught the eye for Arsenal in pre-season, and, if his contract is extended, may well use the summer fixtures to provide another reminder of his prowess.
It is clear that Aneke possesses talent, but at present it is difficult to gauge just how much ability he has and which level he will be performing at in the future. Arsenal face a very difficult decision over his short-term future. We will get an answer shortly, but whether they have made the correct choice will not become clear for far longer.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
I remember a few years back being very excited at the Afobe/Aneke combination at youth/reserve level breaking through.
I guess that’s top level football, an injury or a slight stall in progress and you have to rebuild from the lower leagues.
Yeah.. Remember how good the partnership of Lupoli and Bendtner was in the youth team? Thought they would be brilliant when they got a bit older! What has happened to both of them is sad.. :/
Lupoli lacked the physicality to make it at the top, Bendtner simply lacked a functioning brain.
Sounds more like the “Curious case of Benjamin Button”.
….wasn’t it Afobe/Ansah combination. What happened to Zak Ansah?
The academy coaching needs to be seriously looked into. I guess thats why the Dutch invasion in the academy. Quite a few talented kids being wasted, saw a few games as well esp the Chelsea youth cup defeat, pretty sub-standard gameplay.
Still time for him yet. Still wonder why wenger played him at cb in pre-season
He is able to play there, or at least has the ability to play there.
As far as I’m aware, he did start life as a DM, got moved to CB but then found his best position at AM.
@Unyoke If I were to hazard a guess it would be to gauge or improve his positioning off the ball.
For some context, he is the same age as and the Ox and four years older than Zelalem. I doubt that he will make it at Arsenal but if he is patient and works hard, he could play in the Premiership in the future.
Could you imagine being 24, having spent your life playing in the lower leagues of Ligue 2, to then come to Arsenal and establish yourself as a first choice centre back. Age means nothing in terms of actual ability to play at the highest level.
Some players peak early but has enough actual ability to sustain it, while some players are late bloomers. There is no reason why Chuks can’t keep improving with the right involvement and coaching and be one of those late bloomers.
absolutely agree. take pretty much any individual working in an industry (and here I’ll focus on mine). I am 28, and have only recently started delivering to my ‘potential’ for my company (aka I bring value and contribute, rather than being a young schmuck with little experience or know-how). footballers are forced to accelerate their development at a very young age to make it at the top, which doesn’t always work out (think maturity, consistency and maintaining focus). not easy for any 18-22 yr old with a fat paycheck, but it is the ones who were focused early on in… Read more »
Ok, you got all the thumbs up. But…
Look at Ian Wright. He joined Arsenal when he was 27 and turned out to be one of our greatest strikers.
If anything isn’t he the player closest to aaron ramsey in terms of being an all round complete midfielder? Why not mould him, it’s pretty clear that type of player is as ( if not more so ) pivotal to our game as the ” smaller technical ” players we’ve crammed our squad with.
He could also work as the back up should, touch wood he doesn’t, Aaron become injured at any point next season.
I’ve only seen him play in pre season and goin by them statistics, I think the club should extend his contract. Given his age, coming through our academy and physical attributes we should keep him. He can replace diaby if he gets injuried again, which I hope he doesn’t, and Artete in the future cos he’s only got another year left of his contract, I believe we should give him some more time to develop. He could play in the carling cup for us with Flamini giving him orders and covering for him.
Send him to New York. TH14 can keep an eye on him.
I would sign him up as a home grown back up and see then if he doesn’t make an appearance next season give him a free transfer as a thank you.
Too many fantastic young players in the first team already.. a really tough one to decide on
It appears we are slow in learning. Those who has watched Aneke closely in the past 3 seasons will agree that he is making the step up each year. Another Yaya Toure will slip from our hands, since we don’t recognise one when we see one. If we can show faith with Diaby for four seasons now why will it be too much to renew Aneke’s contract for four years. Arteta,Rosicsky,Flamini,Corzola & Diaby will be over 30 plus by the end of next season, Aneke will fit then after another loan with a premiership side preferably. He form part of… Read more »
Except for the fact we did recognise Yaya.
All those claiming he can make it are based on little info. Yes at 20 he’s bossing it in League 1. Wilshere was bossing it at a Premier League club at 18, and at 21 now he’s not even a freaking starter in our starting 11.
He’s better off going abroad tbh. Like at guys like Harvard Nortveit and even Barazite as examples.
Hopefully he signs with us again, but I agree he’d be better off if we loaned him overseas for next year, so he can concentrate on football. He does have big potential but needs to make that ‘step-up’ in the next 18 months or he’ll end up having a career in the lower leagues.
Diaby is 27 mate.
Remember in the old days most players broke into the first team at around 20-21.
Not everyone is a Fabregas or Messi or Wilshere or Aguero or Rooney (but fuck that fat cunt)
He is a powerful guy and the talent is obviously there. We should give him a new contract and do what Jorge suggested. Sending him out on loan to a Championship or struggling EPL side where he will play regularly is the best option.
give him a new contract and loan him to some EPL side. the way Vela progressed , it feels sad what could have been ! Also look at Diego Costa .. played in lower sides till 24 years of age. and now he is on fire. give Aneke time i say !
I Agree. Giroud played in lower French league until he was 24, and is now the primary striker at Arsenal. Costa was out on Loan for the most part, surplus to requirement player until he was 23. And now at 25 yrs old he is suddenly among the best strikers in the world. Suárez played in the Dutch Eredivisie until he was 25, which is a league on par with League 1 and Championship. Now at 27 he is outperforming both Messi and Ronaldo and is a superstar of football.
Some players just Bloom late i Guess.
Where’s the Ian Wright example!
(I agree with you.)
If he does leave, will the headline be “Arsene Chuks Aneke away”?
I’ll get my scuba diving gear. (I got bored of coats)
good play sir good play 🙂
Everybody’s comment sums it up, he should be with arsenal next season. Very impressive report all season. Obviously he keeps getting better. Would be painful if @arsenal think otherwise.
Anyone else of the opinion we should have a punt on Connor Wickham? The boy’s a beast.
Wickham + Pogba = a solid summer of business.
gosh one good month and we have to buy him …no thanks
Arteta, Diaby and Rosicky all have uncertain futures over the next couple of years, would be a shame to lose a talent who might just come through at the right time to top up the side. With his size i think he’s the type of player we should be adding to the squad regardless.
It seems as though xenophobia works in both ways. I’m no coach but Akpom looks like so much more of a talent than Sanogo, yet Sanogo gets more 1st team opportunities. Apart from strength Sanogo loses out on everything else. Aneke has shown hunger and progression and is not a party boy like most England youth players, I would love to know why we can’t show faith and create a path for him in the same way we have for Diaby, or Denilson for example. Top talent and I hope he gets a fair chance to show his quality!
sanogo have been banging goal at youth level and youth international too. akpom was great last season but he s done nothing on loan to deserve sanogo place
Strength is quite important at this level, unless you’re really very (very) quick or very (very) talented.
I expect Akpom to get a better chance next season or go on loan overseas.
He’s actually played mainly at CF, most of the rest of the time at CAM, according to Transfermarkt. At the latter position he has a lot of stiff competition at the club. There are many young talented CFs, and whether there’s any point in keeping Aneke specifically is something Wenger and his staff would best be able to decide, they’re not exactly beginners in developing young players. It’s sad to see a promising young player go, but unfortunately most are simply not good enough to cut it at the top.
I think Transfermarkt is wrong. He’s a AM rather than CF but can play as an old style No 10.
I know it doesn’t tell the whole story but ‘aneke crewe’ in youtube turns up the goals he’s been getting for Crewe this year. These are not goals scored by someone who should be playing at that level. To get 16 is great but these are pretty bloody good goals… the Crewe manager says he’s been working hard so I don’t think he’s another JET. Definitely loan Chuks to a top championship side next year. Good players play well with good players too, Zelalem has had an average year yet looked a world beater playing with Wilshere, Ox, Walcott last… Read more »
Everyone seems sure it’s all in our hands, but that doesn’t seem too likely to me. Chances are there are plenty of clubs interested in him (He’s done well, lots of promise, free agent). Almost certainly they’ll be smaller clubs than Arsenal but,all the same, just what assurances can we give him about his future with us? The most positive we could probably be- without flat-out lying, which him and his agent would be wary of- is ‘we like you as a player, want you to sign a three year contract with a decent wage increase. Then the plan is… Read more »
Benik Afobe, Chuks Aneke and Francis Cocquelin may never play for Arsenal again. Next victim may be Ryo Miyaichi.
Name more than one youngster Wenger has let go that has really made it?
One that we all say, why the hell didn’t we get him to sign a professional contract.
I can’t think if one, in 18 years. Not one youth player we have had in our ranks has gone on to be the one we shouldn’t have let go.
Vela maybe, but can he cut it in the Prem when he can’t party in the sun? I’m not sure tbh.
So trust Wenger if the boy doesn’t stay, he knows
Agreeing with what you said. It’s not just Wenger, the youth team coaches monitor these young players over every game and practice session. They should know when a player won’t cut it at the highes level.
I will not even count Vela as a counter argument. He was rightly identified as a capable one and given his chances at highest level. But, all he wanted was to run away from England and Arsenal. I don’t know what Arsenal could have done to salvage that one.
Send him out on loan.
Does shopping in the Özil brand of player shopping market eliminate players like Aneke come through the ranks? I want the big marque signings as much as the next fan, but really hope our youth team provides the odd golden nugget. Its a gamble to give him (and others) the chance. In arsene I trust (I couldn’t do his job).
It’s not like his wages are much, are they? Seems the cost of signing him up for another couple years wouldn’t be all that high, and the potential return is there. Hell, if we loaned him out to the right club, we could probably even get them to cover 50% of his wages, whatever small amount they are. The risk seems very low in renewing his contract. He’s been hugely promising this year, why not give him another year and see if he really takes off? Of course it’s up to him – maybe he wants to go somewhere else,… Read more »
i’ll be very surprised if arsenal keep him on, wenger only seems to be interested in kids who can turn out confident performances for the first team by the age of 18, like wilshere and gnabry. if you haven’t done it by then it’s game over for you at arsenal.
Not true – the likes of Gibbs, Clichy and even Ashely Cole took time to convince. They played at 18 but I wouldnt say they were confident or perfect. Alex Song certainly wasnt at that age either.
Does someone knows the name of his agent? (Aneke’s Agent)
Pretty sad, this guy was pretty good 2 or 3 years ago. I remember this time last year getting excited about the Ansah, Afobe and Akpom strike force but now it looks like Chuba is the only one with a future. Good luck for the future Afobe, but it’s not at Arsenal.