Two wonderkids Arteta promoted to first team in 2020 - and where they are now

27 January 2024 , 07:30

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Trae Coyle trained with Arsenal in 2020 but left soon after

One criticism often thrown at Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is his reluctance to use youth players.

Despite overseeing the youngest Premier League debut ever last season when 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri was brought off the bench late on against Brentford, Arteta is regularly told he isn't handing young players the minutes they deserve. However, he is never shy in letting them train with the first team it would appear.

Back in 2020, with 'Project Restart' on the horizon after all football was suspended for three months due to the coronavirus pandemic, Arteta was still getting to grips with his players in what was the first six months of his management career.

Keen to see what kind of talent was bubbling underneath the first-team surface, Arteta opted to call up both Matt Smith and Trae Coyle to strut their stuff alongside senior stars. The decision came soon after Per Mertesacker, head of the club's academy, admitted his aim was to get as many youngsters into the side as possible.

"We are really keen on giving Mikel Arteta a lot of headaches, you know," Mertesacker told Ian Wright on his YouTube channel for Adidas Home Team. "He must be thinking, 'What's going on in the academy?' Every year there is the potential two, three players who can step onto that court.

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"But I know his standards, I know what he stands for, so I need to prepare the players really well so when they step into the first-team environment they are ready and prepared."

Unfortunately, neither Smith nor Coyle had what it takes to step up and make the grade in the eyes of Arteta. Smith famously made the squad for the FA Cup final later on that season, with a video of the midfielder looking confused and surprised in equal measure as he collected his medal despite having not made a senior appearance going viral.

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Matt Smith trained with Arsenal's first-team in 2020 and is now at Wigan

After that FA Cup final, Smith embarked on three separate loan spells with Swindon, Charlton and Doncaster before the summer of 2023 saw his time with Arsenal come to an end. He now lines up for Wigan, having recently returned to the side after a lengthy spell out of action that spanned from September until January.

As for Coyle, his career took a different trajectory. Just two months after that training session with heavyweights like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, he joined Gillingham on loan but was recalled four months later.

In June of 2021, he parted ways with the Gunners on a permanent basis to join Swiss tier outfit FC Lausanne-Sport. Coyle remains there to this day, with his side currently languishing as low as 10th in a 12-team table.

Josh O'Brien