Arsenal are preparing themselves for the probable exit of Marcus McGuane to Barcelona after the expiry of his contract with the North London club. McGuane is a product of the Arsenal youth academy and was named as the captain of the U18 side. He has scored on two occasions in his 9 Premier League 2 appearances this season and is pegged to be a future star at the Emirates.
However, circumstances have changed in recent times and McGuane is evaluating his position at the North London club. He is an ambitious individual and has seen his academy teammates, Reiss Nelson, Josh Da Silva and Joe Willock get featured for the senior side.He himself has managed a substitute appearance in the club’s 4-2 win over BATE Borisov earlier this season which was marked as his senior team debut.
He was quoted, “My goals for the end of the season are to take as many opportunities as I can and if I get chances to train with the first team, then to do as well as I can. If I get the chance to get in the squad again or play then I want to show what I can do. I set goals for the whole season back at the start, then I re-evaluate in January.”
Arsene Wenger always pays close attention to the academy and allows the youngsters to prove their worth in the big stages. The latest significant player to break into the senior team is Alex Iwobi, who is a first-team regular now after the departure of Alexis Sanchez.
This obviously is a promising sign for young talents who want to make a name for themselves. But the ones who are not shown a lot of faith often feel the need to take their services elsewhere, and in McGuane’s case, to Catalonia.
The Barcelona B side currently plays in the Segunda Division after winning promotion from the B Division last season. Players step up through the academy ranks and make a name here before getting a call from the first team. It is the reserve team which is allowed to play in a similar league system and has given rise to plenty of stars including Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Sergio Busquets and the five-time Balon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi.
The promise of featuring for the side is plentiful and is hard to match up for Arsenal. However, a number of players have made their way into the first team at Arsenal this season and the prospect of appearing for the senior team for a versatile player like McGuane is also pretty high.
