A year on from Arsene Wenger’s departure, Arsenal are stepping up the process of phasing out the old and replacing it with the new. The latest example of this strategy is the imminent appointment of Freddie Ljungberg to the first-team coaching staff — a move that will further strengthen the ties between the club’s academy and Unai Emery’s senior squad.

Ljungberg, who returned to Arsenal last summer, has impressed as the head coach of the under-23 team. He has worked closely with a strong group of exciting youngsters, who are seen by many as one of the club’s most talented generations in years, and his proximity to the first team will help to facilitate the promotion of the most gifted players from the academy.

It is hard to overstate the importance of this pathway, particularly in light of Arsenal’s ongoing absence from the Champions League. On both a sporting and financial level, they know they must get this right. With the club’s finances under such strain, it is vital that Arsenal can either produce their own players or make a meaningful profit on the youngsters they have nurtured.

“We are putting a lot of strategic weight in the academy,” said Raul Sanllehi, the head of football, in the autumn. At that time, a handful of academy players were receiving occasional first-team opportunities in the cup competitions under Emery. Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah were often part of the squad, while the highly-rated Bukayo Saka, only 17, made his first few senior appearances around the New Year.