Arsenal's Academy Rebuild: Signing Manchester United Duo
Arsenal’s senior squad has already had its expensive summer facelift. Now the club’s academy is getting one of its own – and it’s Manchester United feeling the tug on their youth ranks.
The Gunners are closing in on a triple swoop for highly rated youngsters, with United pair Habeeb Ogunneye and James Scanlon, plus Blackburn Rovers forward Igor Tyjon, all set to head to north London.
Raiding United’s youth line
According to The Athletic, 20-year-old right-back Ogunneye has already completed a medical ahead of a move from Old Trafford. Arsenal are also close to tying up a deal for 19-year-old winger Scanlon, another United prospect who has caught the eye.
Both transfers are expected to be free moves, but not cheap in the long term: United are due to receive significant sell-on clauses for each player, a nod to how highly they are rated in Manchester.
There’s a familiar face behind the push. Arsenal’s new under-21 head coach, David Horseman, worked briefly in United’s academy and knows both players well. Now he looks set to build his own group around them in north London.
Tyjon breakthrough after stand-off
The third piece of Arsenal’s academy business is Igor Tyjon, the 18-year-old Blackburn Rovers striker and England Under-18 international. His move has been a slow burn.
Tyjon has been in dispute with Blackburn after the Championship club resisted several approaches from Arsenal. The stalemate dragged on, but a breakthrough was finally reached last week. The forward then underwent a medical on Friday.
Arsenal have agreed to pay an initial £1 million, with further bonuses and a sell-on clause built into the deal. For a teenager yet to kick a ball in the Premier League, it’s a clear statement of intent.
Building a production line, not just a team
This isn’t just about stocking the under-21s. Arsenal have quietly built one of the most exciting youth cores in the country, with Max Dowman, Ethan Nwaneri and Marli Salmon among those already edging into Mikel Arteta’s orbit.
The modern academy is no longer just a finishing school for the first team. Under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan, clubs are also judged on their ability to develop professionals with strong careers elsewhere – and to sell them.
Chelsea have set the benchmark here, generating more than £400 million in transfer fees from academy products. Those homegrown sales count as pure profit under the old PSR (profit and sustainability) rules, and they remain a crucial financial lever for ambitious clubs.
Arsenal want to be in that conversation. Signing talented youngsters on free transfers with heavy sell-on clauses, or investing relatively small fees in high-upside teenagers, fits that model perfectly.
Senior rebuild already in full swing
While the academy is being quietly reshaped, the first team has already undergone a major upgrade.
Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta have driven through a £200 million recruitment drive, bringing in Piero Hincapie, Illan Meslier, Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa. It is a spine-strengthening window aimed at turning title challenges into trophies.
Yet Arsenal’s work is far from done. Several senior players are expected to leave before the window closes at 11pm on September 1, and more movement is anticipated both in and out.
The message from N5 is clear: the club are building for now and for the next decade. If Ogunneye, Scanlon and Tyjon follow the pathway carved out for Dowman, Nwaneri and Salmon, the real question won’t be whether Arsenal’s academy is back – but how far it can push the first team in the years to come.
