Arsenal are a club renowned worldwide for various things, such as the Invincibles season, the magic of Thierry Henry, the genius of Arsène Wenger, and the inventiveness of Herbert Chapman.
However, there's something else, a policy that has seen the club handsomely rewarded over the years, both financially and in results, trusting in the youth.
The Gunners have always been a club that give youth players a chance to break into the first team, be that their prospects from Hale End, such as Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, or youngsters from other teams, like Cesc Fàbregas and Gabriel Martinelli.
The north Londoners have a proud history of developing some of the best talents in English football. However, for every hit, there are multiple misses, as is the nature of football. Yet, there is one player who has to go down as one of the biggest misses in recent memory, a player who was once compared to the electric Ronaldinho.
Arsenal's Japanese Ronaldinho
The player in question is Japanese winger Ryo Miyaichi, who looked set to take the world by storm when it was announced Arsenal had signed him in December 2010.
However, there was something unique about his transfer as he wasn't signed from a professional football team in Japan; he was signed directly from High School. The then-18-year-old dynamo had trialled with the Gunners in the summer beforehand and then went on to represent Chukyodai Chuyko High School in the All Japan High School tournament.
It was an unusual way for an English club to sign a player, but Wenger, who managed Japanese side Grampus Eight before joining the Gunners, argued: "It's very important that Asia is represented at our club."
The 6 foot attacker officially joined Arsenal on January 30th 2011, but given his age, frame and lack of top-flight experience, he was immediately sent out on loan to Eredivisie giants Feyenoord for the second half of the season.
Looking back, his short stint in the Netherlands can be viewed both positively and negatively. It was undoubtedly a success from a footballing perspective, as the teenager scored three goals and provided five assists in just 12 appearances for the club.
The fans and media loved his explosive style, and he was given the moniker 'Ryodinho', which was the supporters' way of comparing him to the iconic Ronaldinho.
In an interview with Arsenal a few years later, Miyaichi explained his appreciation of this comparison: "I felt very accepted by the supporters at Feyenoord. I appreciated that nickname. When it comes to comparing Ronaldinho and myself, there is still a world of difference, but I will try my best to get close to him."
However, his few months with Feyenoord represented the pinnacle of his European career, and he was never able to live up to such lofty comparisons.
Miyaichi's loan nightmares
Upon his return from Feyenoord, he was given a couple of outings in the League Cup before he was sent to the reserves, where he would deal with a minor ankle sprain for a month or so – a sign of things to come.
Once the January window opened, he was again sent out on loan, this time to Premier League strugglers Bolton Wanderers, and while he started brightly with a goal in the FA Cup, he quickly faded.
He returned to N5 with just a single goal and two assists from his 14 appearances, a haul which certainly didn't scream the next Ronaldinho.
So, at the start of the 2012/13 season, he was again sent out on loan, this time to Wigan Athletic, but he suffered a torn ankle ligament in November of that season and missed around 21 games of first-team action, and he returned to the Emirates with just seven appearances and one assist for the Latics under his belt.
The following season saw the then-20-year-old stay at Arsenal due to a string of injuries that left him sidelined for 155 days between August 2013 and September 2014.
Things were starting to look quite bleak for a player who only a few years ago was seen as the next big thing, so in one final attempt to kickstart his European career, Arsenal sent Miyachi on loan to Dutch side FC Twente for the 2014/15 season, and while he was able to stay injury free for much of the time, the quality just wasn't there.
Season
Days Out
2010/11
0
2011/12
30
2012/13
212
2013/14
93
2014/15
62
Total
397
He would make 14 appearances for the club's U21 side, but just 11 for the senior side, and in those 11 games, he failed to score a single goal or provide even one assist. For all intents and purposes, his time as a footballer in a top-five European league was over.
New club, same problems
Once Miyaichi's loan at FC Twente was over, Arsenal finally cut their losses and let him join Bundesliga 2 side FC St. Pauli on a free, where, as he had been for the last couple of years, he was blighted with injuries.
The young winger hadn't even been in Germany for a month when he suffered a cruciate ligament tear that saw him sidelined for 247 days.
In his six years at the club, the once sought-after prospect missed a whopping 972 days of football through injury, or 2.66 years, or almost half of the time he was a St Pauli player.
The only positive story to come out of Miyaichi's unfortunate time in Germany is that St Pauli offered him an extra year to make sure he could recover from his injuries at the club, with then-director of Sport of Uwe Stöver saying, "Rather than leave him alone with it, we wanted to show that we're behind him."
Appearances
80
Goals
8
Assists
9
Days missed through injury
972
However, when his contract expired in 2021, he left the club with just eight goals and nine assists in 80 appearances.
A Japanese homecoming
After giving it everything he had to forge a career in European football, the former Arsenal man returned to his homeland and signed with J League side Yokohama F. Marinos, with just 12 senior goals to show for his 11 years in Europe..
He's still been blighted with repeated injuries in recent seasons, but a return of eight goals and four assists in 53 games is the most effective he's been since his first loan spell with Feyenoord all those years ago.
They haven't been meaningless goals either, as he scored a late winner against Kashiwa Reysol last summer to help his side complete an impressive 4-3 comeback.
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Ultimately, he still has the security of a contract that runs until January next year, and with the J League set to get underway later this month, the former Gooner – and potentially unluckiest winger of all time – has another chance to show the footballing world that he still has something to give.
