The other academy players that returned to Arsenal as Eberechi Eze rejoins the club

It is a story that has been well documented throughout his summer transfer saga, with Eberechi Eze having now returned to Arsenal as a first-team star after previously being released at the age of 13 when he was an academy player.

Eze was at Arsenal’s academy from 2006 until 2011 but was then told that he would be departing, with the prospect subsequently spending time at various academies including Fulham, Reading and Millwall.

After a move to QPR, which included a loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, Eze established himself in senior football before sealing a switch to Crystal Palace in 2020 and the 27-year-old is now an England international.

There haven’t been many cases of academy players leaving Arsenal and subsequently returning to the club but there have been a few instances, as shown here:

Martin Keown

Keown, who was born in Oxford, joined Arsenal’s academy in 1980 and had a loan spell at Brighton in 1984 before making his senior debut for Arsenal the following year.

After playing 22 matches he joined Aston Villa in 1986 before subsequently signing for Everton.

Keown returned to Arsenal in 1992 and went on to establish himself as one of the most famous names in the Gunners’ recent history, winning an array of trophies and being named the club’s player of the season in 1995-96.

The defender ended his illustrious spell at Arsenal in 2004.

Kyran Thompson

A much more recent example, Thompson was at Arsenal’s pre-academy at Hale End when he was very young before joining West Ham.

Thompson returned to Arsenal last season and is now viewed as one of the club’s most exciting prospects – the attacker is in the U18 squad despite technically being an U16 player.

Daniel Ballard

In the summer of 2016 Ballard was a free agent after previously being told by Arsenal that he wouldn’t be offered a scholarship contract following his progression through the ranks at Hale End.

Ballard had appeared set to join Southampton but an injury meant that Arsenal were a player short for an U18s friendly in Germany and the defender was asked to fill in.

Having impressed, Ballard subsequently earned a scholarship and went on to sign professional terms. He became a Northern Ireland senior international while at Arsenal and signed for Sunderland in 2022, who he is now representing in the Premier League.

Remy Mitchell

Mitchell progressed through the ranks at Hale End and featured for the U18s when he was just 14. The goalkeeper signed scholarship terms in 2020 before departing two years later. This summer Mitchell made an unexpected return to the club as he featured for the U21s in pre-season and was involved in the official photocall, although it still hasn’t been confirmed that he has signed a contract.

There have also been other occasions when Arsenal have reversed their initial contract decisions on players and they ended up staying longer than expected, such as with Zach Fagan and George Brislen-Hall in 2011.

In 2015, meanwhile, there was a period when Joe Willock technically wasn’t an Arsenal player as there was a delay in him signing scholarship terms before he eventually did so.

However, Eze’s story appears to be somewhat unique in terms of an academy player being released before eventually returning as a major first-team signing.