Ex-Arsenal star had Premier League debut put on ice after billionaire's tackle

24 February 2024 , 08:30

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Isaac Hayden (left) during his spell with Arsenal

Isaac Hayden’s dream of playing in the Premier League for Arsenal was dashed after a tackle in training saw him sidelined - made by one of football's wealthiest ex-pros Mathieu Flamini.

Joining their academy at the age of 13, midfielder Hayden found himself in a fortunate position when the absence of a series of first-choice midfielders meant he was due to be handed the baton. He wasn’t the only man jostling for a first-team nod, as Mathieu Flamini, in his second stint with the north London club, was also in the frame.

Hayden appeared to have got the better of the Frenchman, however, and was set to taste the Emirates' turf, until one crunching tackle changed everything. Hayden told The Guardian in 2017 : “I remember coming out with the ball, I passed it and then Flamini has come in and caught me on the inside of my ankle, above the bone, and the ankle has just turned. It had clicked. I actually heard two clicks.”

Hayden ultimately suffered an ankle injury that would keep him sidelined for 10 months. He never really got a sniff of Arsenal first-team opportunities again and Flamini took his place in the starting eleven.

Speaking to Mirror Football in 2017, Hayden added: “It was just unfortunate, but it was definitely a case of a young pro versus an experienced pro and him saying: ‘Look, I’m still here.’ And this is my position and if you want to take it, you’re going to have to earn it, sort of thing, fight for it. Which I was more than happy to do.

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“But with that injury, it was impossible. Obviously, the Arsenal window, I knew, had slammed shut. Because Coquelin had come back. He’d formed that amazing partnership with Cazorla. And when Ramsey, Wilshere, all of them come back, I’ve got no chance.”

Hayden’s career hasn’t been played under the brightest of lights, but a loan spell with Hull after years in the shadows of the Arsenal first team paved the way for a move to Newcastle, where he’s enjoyed his football since.

Hayden became a key member of the Newcastle first team (David Price)

A series of loans litter his last few seasons, but he was a key piece in Newcastle's squad for six years and played over 150 times for the Magpies before being shipped out to Norwich and Queen's Park Rangers - where he plies his trade today.

Flamini’s career went in an entirely different direction. He came into the squad to replace Hayden that day and continued to play for the Gunners before he departed for Crystal Palace in 2016. A year at Selhurst Park was followed by a Spanish excursion in Getafe before retiring.

His playing career is not the only thing that defines Flamini, however, as he is currently one of the wealthiest ex-footballers on the planet. Before he hung up his boots, he had already invested millions into his company, GF Biochemicals, the world’s first mass-producers of levulinic acid - a synthetic oil substitute.

Mathieu Flamini (right) caused the injury during a training session

Speaking to Sifted on why he started this business venture, Flamini stated: "As a child, I had two passions: football and sustainability. I grew up in Marseilles near the sea and was aware of the environmental questions around ocean plastics and chemical pollution from a very young age."

Now CEO of the biochemical company, Flamini’s net worth is estimated at around £20billion, more than 20 times that of Cristiano Ronaldo and 40 times that of Lionel Messi.

The highs and lows of football can be illustrated by the two disparate careers of Isaac Hayden and Mathieu Flamini. These two intertwined midfielders could have enjoyed starkly different playing days were it not for that training ground tackle.

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Ben Crawford