Arsenal's summer transfer business has continued with Charlie Patino leaving on loan, and it's a great opportunity for the youngster to take the next step in his fledgling career.
The teenager made a dream start to life in the Gunners' first team last season, scoring on his debut in a Carabao Cup victory over Sunderland. However, he then received a bit of a wake-up call in his first start, forming part of an experimental Gunners side eliminated from the FA Cup by then-Championship side Nottingham Forest.
Patino will spend the upcoming season at Blackpool, with the deal now announced after Mikel Arteta giving his approval. The Tangerines finished 16th in the Championship last term, avoiding the drop comfortably after winning promotion the previous season, and the 18-year-old is one of a number of loanees to move to Bloomfield Road along with Liverpool defender Rhys Williams.
Patino has spoken in the past about his desire to follow the path laid down by some of his fellow Hale End graduates. In 2021, he named Bukayo Saka specifically as someone he wants to emulate after seeing the number seven come through the ranks and establish himself for club and country.
"He’s two years older than me and I’m working my hardest to try and follow in his footsteps," Patino told club media. "That’s the pathway I want to take at Arsenal."
Saka is a bit of an outlier, though, having gone from academy star to first-teamer without a single loan stint. That's not to say we should think less of Patino for him getting a chance elsewhere, though, considering the other Gunners who have thrived out on loan.
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Like Saka, Emile Smith Rowe made his Arsenal debut as a teenager as Unai Emery blooded youngsters in cup competitions. His first appearance came against Vorskla Poltava in the 2018-19 Europa League, while Saka's bow arrived in the reverse fixture against the same opponents.
However, their paths diverged after the turn of the year. Smith Rowe was sent out on loan, first to RB Leipzig and later to Huddersfield Town, while Saka - a year his junior - remained part of the under-23 side before linking up with the first team without the need for football elsewhere.
Danny Cowley, who managed Smith Rowe at Huddersfield, described the then-teenager as a "lovely player" in quotes reported by YorkshireLive in 2020. "I am always going to be demanding of him because, to me, he is a Premier League player," Cowley said. "So I have to treat him like that and demand Premier League standards from him - in training and in games, day in and day out."
Patino should be in good hands in Lancashire. The club have a solid record with young talents, and in returning manager Michael Appleton they have a boss who has shown a willingness to blood loanees in the past.
Arsenal have been known to take care when deciding on loan destinations, with Jack Wilshere benefiting from minutes at Bolton early in his career and Nicklas Bendtner thriving at Birmingham City before making the step up under Arsene Wenger. Even William Saliba, a man signed at great cost rather than being brought through the ranks, was handed a spell at Marseille which Arteta feels has prepared him well for the Premier League.
For all the quality shown by Charlie Patino last term at age group and senior level, it's not too damning of him to suggest he's not quite ready for the step up. Still, as Saka and Smith Rowe have shown, different players can take different paths and still reach the endpoint of a first team spot under Mikel Arteta, and that's still where Patino will hope to find himself in the not-too-distant future.
