When Arsenal took on Wimbledon in the EFL Cup last month, it was a bit of a surprise to not see Charlie Patino in action and it has emerged that the youngster had to be sidelined due to a request from Thomas Partey as per Football London.
The 17-year-old central midfielder is considered to be one of the best and brightest talents to come out of the club’s academy. He has already shown his skills playing against players that are much older than him.
Patino was expected to be part of the squad that went into the third-round clash against Wimbledon. And there were some murmurs that he could even get a start but that wasn’t to be the case as Thomas Partey put in a request to Mikel Arteta.
The midfielder was injured at the start of the season and that saw him miss the first few games. As he was getting back to fitness, the Ghanaian wanted some extra minutes and ended up being on the pitch for about an hour. As per Football London, Patino and another talented youngster Tim Akinola were expected to feature in the game if not for this request.
When asked about Patino not being selected, manager Mikel Arteta said:
“He was very close [to being selected]. But at the end we decided that some players needed minutes. It will happen naturally with time.”
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From what we have seen of the Englishman in the youth teams, it is clear to see how much potential he has. This was particularly evident during a recent game against Manchester United’s U-23 team where he glided past four players and produced a wonderful chip to beat Dean Henderson.
But from the manager’s point of view, it was more important to give Partey some minutes and get him back to full fitness. It can’t be argued that the senior midfielder is one of the team’s most important players.
The good news for Patino is that he should soon get a chance, especially with the injury suffered by Granit Xhaka. So, we should be able to see the youngster in action sooner rather than later.
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