Former Liverpool player and pundit Stan Collymore has claimed that Arsenal trio Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe could all play for Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United. All three youngsters have managed to impress this season, having standout moments during a push for a top four finish.
The three players are just a few of the youngsters that have all made an impact so far, turning their fortunes around from last season’s disappointing finish. Manager Mikel Arteta has claimed that those academy players have all of his support during the tense back end of the season.
“The task is big but the opportunity as well is so precious that we all want to do it,” The Spaniard said last month. “[I will] give all the support in the world to them because they need it. They are 19, 20, 21 years old most of them and that is what they need.”
READ MORE: Every word Mikel Arteta said on Tomiyasu's injury, winning ugly and the win over West ham
And, in light of their performances recently, former player and pundit Collymore believes all three could play for the top clubs in the Premier League, saying via The Mirror : “Arsenal’s youngsters are the real deal — Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli.
“But the problem is for Arsenal, they may get picked off if the Gunners don’t get to the Promised Land of winning trophies in the next couple of years. I could certainly see Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs being interested in Saka, Smith Rowe and Martinelli — they have a chance of getting into one of those clubs in the next four or five years if they keep developing.
“But if we ring-fence the kids at Arsenal, how many of the others are getting into the top two or three? Hardly any.” It’s a huge claim amid reported transfer interest for some of the players Collymore has singled out.
In January, it was reported that Liverpool were eyeing a move for Saka, while Jurgen Klopp has already heaped praise on Gabriel Martinelli as a top prospect for the future. “[Gabriel] Martinelli is such a talented boy,” the German said. “It’s really tricky, if anybody says again that Trent [Alexander-Arnold] can’t defend, they should come to me and I'll knock them down.”
Whether any of the players would make transfers remains to be seen, but for the time being they will be fully focused on pushing for a top four finish this season.
