Mertesacker leaves Arsenal with glowing record of producing young stars - here's who he developed

Martin Macdonald

• 12 Jan 2026 08:45 CST
• 6 min read

Analysis

Arsenal legend Per Mertesacker will leave the club with a glowing reputation not just as a player, but as someone who helped developed some of the best young players in the Premier League.

After hanging up his boots in 2018, the German stepped into the role as academy manager and he has flourished in the position behind the scenes as the Gunners have an abundance of talent coming through the ranks into the first team available to manager Mikel Arteta.

Crucially, they have seemed to continually develop and showcase youngsters each season from the academy until they are ready for first-team action.

Bukayo Saka will soon become the highest-paid player in Arsenal's history and for him, his career started under the tutelage of Mertesacker.

Following eight years in the role, Per Mertesacker will step down as Academy Manager at the end of the season.

Thank you and best of luck for the future, Per ❤️

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 12, 2026

The man himself has stated a desire to try new things after such a successful period in the academy, with his exit not coming until the end of the current campaign.

“Arsenal is and will always be a very special club to me, so this was a difficult decision," a statement on the official club website read.

"I am very thankful for the trust the club put in me when transitioning from a first-team player directly into the role as Head of Academy. Now it is time for me to move on and explore something new and push myself even further.

“I remain focused on finishing the season strongly, continuing to nurture and develop our young talent and support a seamless transition until my very last day with the club."

Richard Garlick, Arsenal’s Chief Executive Officer said: “We support Per’s decision to pursue something new, but we will be incredibly sad to see him leave at the end of the season.

“We were fortunate to have retained Per as Academy Manager once he finished his playing career with us in 2018. He understands what Arsenal stands for and this has been a constant in his leadership - inspiring our Academy coaches, staff and young players in an Arsenal way and giving so many an opportunity to develop and shine.

“We’re happy that Per remains in role until the end of the season whilst we focus on our succession plan.

“We continue in our pursuit of winning major trophies with a sustained focus and investment in our Academy.”

Let's look at some of the players Mertesacker has developed.

Bukayo Saka

The biggest success story in recent years from the academy surrounds Saka, who is the crown jewel of the Arsenal team and has been for a few years now.

Now regarded as one of the most talented wingers in Europe, the England international made his debut for Arsenal under Unai Emery as a substitute in a UEFA Europa League match against Vorskla Poltava in November of 2018, while his full debut came not long after in the same competition. In January of 2019, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Fulham and from there he went from strength-to-strength, really.

He remains the youngest player to reach 50 goals and assists in the Premier League and is Arsenal player who has scored the most goals for England.

Saka is set to become the highest-paid player in Arsenal's history as when he puts pen to paper on his new deal he'll earn around £300,000 per week.

Emile Smith Rowe

Arsenal are the favourites to win the Premier League and have slowly rebuilt themselves to become a force once again following the days of Arsene Wenger.

One criticism that could still be levelled at the club is that they don't tend to sell players for big-money as routinely as some other clubs and that of course impacts their finances. Their most expensive departure remains Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who joined Liverpool for €38m in 2017.

Should Arsenal not utilise the youngsters they bring through, they need to try and at least earn some money from them and that is exactly happened with Emile Smith Rowe who, after struggling to become a first XI regular, joined Fulham for around €32m.

A success story, but in a different way.

Ethan Nwaneri

Ethan Nwaneri is the youngest footballer ever to feature in a Premier League game.

At 15 years and 181 days, he made his debut for Arsenal against Brentford in September of 2022 and since then has gone on to become a useful squad option for Arteta.

The midfield roster that the manager has at his disposal means that Nwaneri doesn't start as many games as he would like, but is certain to become a key player at some point.

His versatility allows him to play either in central midfield or on one of the flanks, a key attribute in itself.

Myles Lewis-Skelly

Myles Lewis-Skelly is the youngest player to score on his debut for England.

The injuries suffered by Kieran Tierney at Arsenal over the last few years allowed Lewis-Skelly to be thrust into the deep end at left-back and to be fair to him, he flourished.

But, Mikel Arteta's love of stockpiling left-backs means he's no longer considered first choice, with the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie now vying for minutes in that role.

He's still just 19, though, so plenty more to come, with a loan move being mentioned in this January transfer window.

Max Dowman

Another record-breaker here in the form of Max Dowman, who at 14-years-old became the youngest player ever to score in a UEFA Youth League match for Arsenal's Under 19s.

In October of 2025, he became the youngest player to start a game for Arsenal when he was named in the XI for a League Cup tie against Brighton. Later that season, he became the youngest player ever to feature in the Champions League when, at 16 years and 18 days, he featured for the Gunners versus Slavia Prague.

The 2025/26 season has been more lowkey for Dowman but he is still only 16 and his time will certainly come in the first-team.

Marli Salmon

The most recent gem to come from the Arsenal academy is Marli Simon, who played in the Champions League against Club Brugge to become Arsenal's youngest ever first-team defender.

He is yet to feature in the Premier League but is very highly-rated.

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