It was expected that it would be a busy summer for Arsenal at youth level and that certainly proved to be the case.

However, it perhaps wasn’t anticipated that almost all of the deals involving the young Gunners would be outgoings.

There was just one new arrival at the club, with Irish midfielder Jordan McEneff signing scholarship terms, while a host of high-profile starlets departed on a permanent basis.

Chris Willock joined Benfica, Kaylen Hinds moved to Wolfsburg, Dan Crowley signed for Willem II, Ismael Bennacer linked up with Empoli and Donyell Malen made the switch to PSV Eindhoven.

Arsenal wanted to keep all of the above players but were unable to do so, with the youngsters in question feeling that there was a better and quicker chance of them breaking into the first-team elsewhere.

Some of those players have already been involved in senior fixtures this season, vindicating their decision to move, at least in the short-term.

Making the breakthrough at Arsenal is always going to be incredibly difficult but it is apparent that an increasing number of youngsters believe that going elsewhere, and to foreign clubs in particular, is more beneficial for their development.

Jon Toral, meanwhile, joined Hull City, but that was a rather different case as the Spaniard had reached the age where he needs to play regularly. It was still, however, disappointing to see him leave without having made a competitive first-team appearance for Arsenal considering the talent he possesses.

Savvas Mourgos and Glen Kamara also left, joining Norwich City and Dundee respectively, but neither player had a realistic chance of making the breakthrough at Arsenal.

The other departures saw Stefan O’Connor, Kristopher Da Graca and Kostas Pileas released, with all three players having since found new clubs.

O’Connor is in the U23 squad at Newcastle United, Da Graca is with IFK Gothenburg and Pileas joined Anorthosis Famagusta.

That, then, is eleven players gone from the Arsenal youth set-up, with just one coming in.

Lots of departures had to be made in order to create room for the sizeable batch of new first-year scholars but it seems clear that there has been a change in philosophy at the academy following the departure of Andries Jonker.

Jonker oversaw the arrival of several foreign prospects but two of them, Bennacer and Malen, have left in this window, while the club appear more focused on giving English prospects a chance.

If you look at the team-sheet for any Arsenal youth fixture so far this season it is noticeable that almost all of the players representing the club are English, with many of them having progressed through the ranks at the Hale End academy.

That way of thinking could well chance when Per Mertesacker takes over as the head of the academy but it is an interesting direction that the club are heading in at the moment by prioritising the development of the players that they have brought through themselves.

While many players left, some youngsters, surprisingly, remain at the club.

Tafari Moore spent last season on loan with Utrecht, where he mainly played for the second team, while Aaron Eyoma did likewise with Volendam in the second half of last campaign.

Both players are still at Arsenal and are unlikely to be heavily involved in the U23s even when fully fit.

Chiori Johnson is another player who would benefit from a loan spell, while the fact that Julio Pleguezuelo has remained at the club indicates that he could be involved with the first-team in some capacity.

Defenders Krystian Bielik and Ben Sheaf, meanwhile, could well have gone on loan if they weren’t injured.

It will also be interesting to see how Arsenal balance the playing time between their four goalkeepers at U23 level – Matt Macey, Deyan Iliev, Ryan Huddart and Hugo Keto.