Hale End may not quite be La Masia just yet but Arsenal’s academy is only going from strength to strength as far as supplying Mikel Arteta with first-team players is concerned.
While the Arsenal squad may now be packed with big-money stars, it was the academy that arguably kept him in the job.
The early knockings of the Arteta era were not too convincing but he was carried along the way by Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
Since then, the Spaniard has regularly called upon an academy graduate. Last season was the year of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly and this year is Max Dowman’s turn.
A generational talent if we ever did see one, the 15-year-old is already impacting Premier League games and became the youngest player in Champions League history when he came off the bench against Slavia Prague last week. He’s a special kid, alright.
However, for every Dowman and Saka, there is a Michael Olise, a Serge Gnabry, a Harry Kane, three players who failed to make the grade at Arsenal, having been in the academy.
It’s usually an attacker who makes the headlines but there’s a Hale End defender now beginning to impress and he’s giving Gabriel Magalhaes a run for his money.
How Gabriel has become Arsenal's most important player
Only three centre-backs have ever won the PFA Premier League Player of the Year award; Paul McGrath, John Terry and Virgil van Dijk.
Yet, if Arsenal lift the title next May, you’d have to say that Gabriel is one of the leading contenders to be named player of the season.
He is a unit, a colossus, a man mountain and in the words of Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, currently the “most influential player” in England’s top division.
Why? Well, also described as the “leader” of the defence by Carragher, the centre-back has made a mockery of his £27m price tag.
The 27-year-old endured a rocky first few years at the Emirates but he is now an elite-level player and to some, the best defender on the planet.
That opinion is very much born out of the impact he’s made in the final third. Since joining the Gunners in 2020, no centre-back in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more goals than him (22). He’s added to his collection in 2025/26, netting two goals and supplying three assists in all competitions.
A steely defender, a manager’s dream, a commander in chief and a goalscorer, Gabriel seemingly has it all. Yet, did Arsenal let Hale End’s very own version leave for a pittance?
Hale End's very own Gabriel
While Arsenal’s academy have produced many a great forward player throughout the years, it’s safe to say it’s been a struggle to find an elite defensive talent.
Tony Adams is the most famous example and beyond him, not many players come to light. Adams is perhaps the greatest captain the club has ever had and he is now cast in bronze outside the Emirates.
Since the days of Adams, however, there have been very few central defenders to make the grade at the top level.
That may well be changing, though. Ayden Heaven left Arsenal for Manchester United at the beginning of the year and despite being just 19 years of age, has already appeared at first-team level under Ruben Amorim.
There is also 16-year-old Marli Salmon. Still in the academy, he represented the club during their pre-season schedule and has already been described as the ‘centre-back version of Dowman’. Fine praise indeed.
Salmon still has a number of years before he makes his big breakthrough but someone who is now making an impact is Dan Ballard.
Ballard played 35 official games for the Arsenal U18s and 25 official games for the U21s but he never made a competitive first-team appearance while in Islington.
As such, he needed to leave and it was Sunderland who gave him a home. The centre-back headed to the Stadium of Light in a deal worth just £2m back in June 2022.
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He has caught the eye since moving, particularly in the last year, where he’s beginning to emulate Gabriel.
Like Gabriel, he’s a leader of men and in the words of Sunderland writer Josh Edwards, a “colossus”. He showed as much against his former employers over the weekend where he outshone Arsenal’s number 6.
While much of the pre-game chatter had been about Granit Xhaka, it was another former Arsenal man who made the biggest of impacts.
He beat Declan Rice to the ball inside the Gunners penalty area and then crashed home an almighty effort that ended the visitors’ immense run of over eight games without conceding a goal.
Ballard was also involved in the Black Cats’ late equaliser. Once again the centre-back found himself in the opposition penalty box but this time he was assisting the goal, playing the ball into the path of Brian Brobbey who flicked the ball beyond David Raya. If that wasn’t enough, his remarkable goalline clearance to deny Mikel Merino a last-gasp winner was perhaps even better than his goal.
Minutes played
90
Touches
44
Accurate passes
26/33 (79%)
Clearances
6
Blocked shots
1
Ground duels won
1/2
Aerial duels won
5/11
Shots
1
Goals
1
A true Gabriel-like performance, this was not the first time that the former Hale Ender has popped up with a vital attacking contribution.
It was Ballard’s crashing header that took Regis Le Bris’ men to the Championship play-off final last season, a game in which he also made a jaw-dropping 19 clearances, winning six aerial duels in the process. Gabriel-esque indeed.
Arsenal’s current defensive record means they will have no regrets about letting him leave for such a small fee but it’s nice to see him doing well elsewhere nonetheless.
Arteta will just be cursing his luck that one of the best performances of Ballard’s senior career came against the team that raised him.