"Identifying, recruiting and developing young players is a key part of our strategy.”
Those are the words of Raul Sanllehi, Arsenal’s head of football and the man leading an overhaul at the Emirates aimed at not just restoring the Gunners to the summit of English football, but also putting them back among Europe's elite.
Arsenal are a club known for giving youth a chance. George Graham two’s title-winning teams were built around players who had progressed through the under-age ranks.
The likes of Tony Adams, David Rocastle, Michael Thomas and Paul Merson helped end an 18-year wait for a league championship, in 1989, and then, two seasons later, they were joined by the likes of David Hillier and Kevin Campbell as the Gunners again finished top of the old First Division.
However, during Arsene Wenger's 21-year tenure, Arsenal didn't just rely on local talent. Teenagers were brought in from across the globe and given a platform to turn themselves into world stars.
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Nicolas Anelka was the first in a succession of success stories, including Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Wojciech Szczesny.
Those players, along with a British contingent featuring Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott, were the bedrock of Arsenal's famous 'project youth', the period which followed the move from Highbury to the Emirates, which left Arsenal financially hamstrung by construction costs.
It was a period that promised plenty but ultimately failed to deliver any silverware. They went close more than once, but that only strengthened the belief among many critics that Arsenal were hindered by a lack of experience.
Between 2005 and 2014, Arsenal failed to win a trophy – a drought that came to an end in the first season after the purse strings were loosened, resulting in the arrival of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for £42.5 million ($51.7m).
Arsenal have won the FA Cup three times in the last six years, but now they want more. The Gunners have found themselves outside of the top four in the Premier League for each of the past three seasons – which is considered unacceptable by those now running the club.
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Sanllehi, a man who is used to winning following his time with Barcelona, is determined to bring the good times back to Arsenal – and he feels young players will help do just that.
Whenever you speak with the Spaniard, it’s never too long before the conversation turns to Barca and the sustained success enjoyed by the Catalans over the past two decades.
Sanllehi believes the bedrock of that success was the club’s famous La Masia academy, which produced a plethora of players with ‘Barcelona DNA'.
Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and Pedro all knew exactly what it meant to play for the Blaugrana, according to Sanllehi, and, consequently, would go that extra yard when needed because of their deep-rooted love for the club.
And that is precisely what he wants to replicate at Arsenal. Sanllehi makes no secret of the fact that he believes that a successful academy will be key if the Gunners are to get back on their perch at the top of the English game.
“We have some great talent coming through our younger age groups and, like all top clubs, the challenge is to help them make the most of their abilities,” he said.
"We need to make sure the academy pathway continues to drive great talent into the first team.”
Right now, the standard of players being produced is as high as it has been for years. Arsenal have pumped money into their academy, spending £40m ($48m) on improving facilities at Hale End and London Colney.
The redevelopment project lasted for nearly two years and Hale End is now unrecognisable, a sporting complex up there with the best on offer anywhere in England.
This project pre-dated Sanllehi’s arrival, with former chief executive Ivan Gazidis driving the plan forward before the new Hale End was completed in 2017.
“We wanted to take the level of the facility to something that was world class and world leading,” Gazidis said. “It’s something that will stand the club in good stead as we look forward.
“We’ve got an ambitious goal. To get to one young player joining our first-team every two years.
“Youth has always been one of the bedrocks of this club and with this investment we’re future proofed for at least the next 10 years.”
This summer, Arsenal promoted four players from the youth team to the senior set-up: Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson.
What's more, both Nelson and Willock started on Sunday, when Arsenal kicked off their new Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win at Newcastle.
With Ainsley Maitland-Niles also in the side, that meant that three of the starting XI at St James’ Park were academy graduates. Two of them, Nelson and Willock, were teenagers and you'd have to go back 21 years to find the last time two English teenagers started a league game for the Gunners.
That’s a hugely encouraging sign and it must be noted that Nketiah would have probably been involved too had Arsenal decided not to send their impressive young forward out on loan to Leeds United on deadline day.
Nketiah, who took just 43 minutes to score on his Leeds debut, will be back next summer. This isn’t a loan with a view to a potential sale.
Indeed, Arsenal are adamant that he will return and join Nelson, Willock and Maitland-Niles in the first-team; that’s why they were so thorough when it came to choosing a destination for Nketiah.
The north London giants have been hurt in the past by sending players out on loan to the wrong club. Serge Gnabry’s ill-fated move to West Brom is still viewed by senior figures at the Emirates as the reason they lost the German star.
Gnabry made just three appearances while at the Hawthorns during the 2015-16 season before returning to north London, with Pulis stating the teenager – who is now starring in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich – was not at the required level to play.
A disillusioned Gnabry then turned down a new contract at Arsenal in favour of a return to Germany and in the space of just three years has transformed into one of the brightest young stars in the game.
Arsenal are determined to prevent similar situation happening in the future and the way Nketiah’s exit was handled shows how much attention to detail now goes into deciding where their best young players will be sent.
Close to 20 clubs had shown an interest in loaning the striker and those were whittled down to just three: Leeds, Bristol City and Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Representatives of those three clubs were then invited down to London Colney and - as first revealed by the Athletic - asked to produce a presentation detailing exactly why Nketiah should join them and how they planned to use the forward.
Loan manager Ben Knapper, contract negotiator Huss Fahmy and Nketiah himself listened to the presentations and, ultimately, it was decided that a move to Elland Road would be best for the 19-year-old.
It was the first time that Arsenal used this process to select a club for a young player and is another sign of the importance the Gunners now place on the loan market in terms of developing talent.
But it’s not just academy players that are the heart of the work being done in a bid to bring the good times back to London’s most decorated club.
A look at the recruitment that has taken place since the end of the 2017-18 season shows that youth is now viewed as the way forward.
In the summer of 2018, Matteo Guendouzi arrived as a teenager from France and 22-year-old Lucas Torreira was signed from Sampdoria.
This year, Nicolas Pepe, 24, was signed for a club-record £72m ($87.5m) fee, while 22-year-old left-back Kieran Tierney was bought from Celtic and 18-year-old forward Gabriel Martinelli arrived from Brazil.
William Saliba, aged just 18, also joined from Saint Etienne for £27m ($32.8m), but he will spend this season back on loan with the Ligue 1 outfit before linking up with Unai Emery’s squad on a permanent basis next summer.
With Tierney, Saliba, Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin, Arsenal have a potential back four that could remain in place for years.
However, Arsenal are aware that youngsters need to time to settle, which is why the likes of David Luiz and Sokratis – both now in their 30s – have also been brought in to share the workload and provide much needed experience, both on the pitch and in the changing room.
The clever recruitment in recent seasons, combined with the investment in the academy, has seen Arsenal amass an army of hugely talented young players that is generating plenty of excitement behind the scenes at the Emirates.
Nelson, Willock, Guendouzi and Maitland-Niles are leading the way, but scratch beneath the surface a little and you have teenagers such as Bukayo Saka, Tyreece John-Jules and Folarin Balogun, who are all expected to become first-team players in the coming years.
Of course, while the conveyor belt of talent at Hale End is producing some of the best youngsters in England, the challenge now is ensuring they all get the opportunity to fulfil their potential at Arsenal.
With that in mind a ‘transition team’ was set-up in the summer, which saw Freddie Ljungberg – last season’s Under-23s boss – promoted to the senior coaching set-up.
“The transition from Under-23 to first team is massive,” said Sanllehi. “It’s a specifically English issue as we don’t have B teams playing at a high level, which our European competitors have.
“So, we need to make careful choices around who stays with the Under-23s, who trains with the first team and who goes on loan.
“The transition team will be responsible for managing development plans for each and every player to best optimise their potential.”
Ljungberg’s arrival has already seen the likes of Robbie Burton given a chance during the summer, with the 19-year-old midfielder making a big impression during the tour to the United States.
“Freddie is helping us with the young players because he knows better than us every young player,” admitted Emery.
“For example, I didn’t know Robbie. Freddie said to me he’s a good player with the capacity to play as a six or an eight. Really, he helped us like we needed.”
Whether Burton goes on to make his mark with the first-team remains to be seen, but his performances in the States were another sign that the work being done to get the best out of Arsenal’s young talent is already bearing fruit.
The original ‘project youth’ may have ultimately flattered to deceive in north London, but there are signs that the updated version could go on to bring success that Sanllehi, Emery and the fanbase crave.