Arsene Wenger has predicted that more clubs are set to dip into the lower leagues of English football to get their hands on players with a real hunger for the game, hinting at the Gunners buying more youngsters like Rob Holding.
Wenger brought the young Bolton defender to the Emirates for a pittance this summer, with a view to developing him into a long-term centre-back option for the club. The Guardian run quotes from an interview ina book, Game Changers, tobe released on Thursday, in which Wenger admits that he tells his scouts to scour the lower leagues for talent.
Arsène Wenger admits he is scared by the prospect of Arsenal retirement. By @DTguardian https://t.co/qukjA71jRt pic.twitter.com/YH50JIRb4T
He said:I've fought all my life for footballers to make money but when you pay them before they produce it can kill the hunger. I'm scared we now have players under 17, under 18, who make £1m a year. When Ian Wright was earning that, he'd scored goals, he'd put his body on the line. Now, before they start, they are millionaires “ a young player who has not even played.�
The veteranFrenchman continued:What I think will happen is that you will have more and more players coming out of the lower leagues who have had to fight their way through.Compare that with a player who has been educated here, who has had Champions League for 17 years, who has not known anything else.
Arsenal fans when they get Pogba and Arsene is in for Jonny Evans pic.twitter.com/MqoPMSyt10
"It's not a dream [for that player], it's normal for him. But if you play for a team in the lower leagues and watch Real Madrid or Barcelona on Wednesday nights you think: ˜I'd love to play in games like that.'
I've said to our scouts to do the lower leagues because the good players are there now. Don't forget we have many foreign players in the Premier League, but good English players have to go down to develop.�
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Calum Chambers (21 years old), Rob Holding (20) and Krystian Bielik (18) are Arsenal's only fit centre-backs... https://t.co/oCvC4wkDgS