Former Arsenal starlet Charlie Patino’s absence from the Deportivo La Coruna team at the start of the season has started to raise questions about the player.
17-year-old attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri is the talk of the town at Arsenal this season and is seen as the next best thing coming out of the Gunners academy.
However, there was similar hype around Patino when he was coming through the ranks for Arsenal a few years back and made his senior debut for the club in 2020.
Former Arsenal scout Brian Stapleton termed him “the best kid I’ve ever seen” and ex-Arsenal head of scouting Sean O’Connor called him the “best player who has ever walked through the doors at Hale End”.
But he was only limited to two senior appearances for the Gunners and eventually left the club in the summer to move to Spanish second-tier side Deportivo La Coruna in the summer.
The Spanish club believed that they pulled off a coup when they managed to sign Patino who had the experience of playing in the Championship and came out of the famed Arsenal academy.
However, the midfielder is still waiting to make his debut for the club in Spain.
Ex-Arsenal starlet is only one of two Deportivo players yet to get a minute of football this season
Patino has been an unused substitute in the four league games he has been available thus far in the second tier of Spanish football.
There were expectations that the midfielder will take time to settle at a new club but Patino hails from the local area and watched Deportivo from the stands during his youth.
However, according to the Galicia Press, the Deportivo fans are now wondering what the hype was all about when they signed the player.
The Spanish club made it seem that they were signing a great talent and insisted that Patino’s arrival showed that the club could attract talented young players.
But for the moment, the fans are yet to see any of that talent in action as Patino has only been warming the bench since joining the club.
Imanol Idiakez recently raged at everyone who questioned his decision to keep the midfielder on the bench consistently and said: “I’d like to know how many of Charlie’s games the people who are asking for him have seen.
“He’s a good player, but he’s changed countries, his situation [is complicated].”
