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Arsenal have been dealt a major setback, with one of their most promising teenagers confirmed to be a target for European giants.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta has put youth at the very core of his project since assuming control in 2019. The likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli have been central to a side that has gone from midtable mire to challenging for trophies.

Saka has been a shining example of Arteta's commitment to youth prospects and has found himself ranked at no.13 in FourFourTwo's list of the best players in the world right now. But there is a risk that Arsenal's progress is leaving the next generation behind.

Arsenal had a troubled summer with retaining youth products, which may yet continue

Arsenal have never had a problem in developing talented youngsters, but with opportunities becoming more scant as the team improves, some of Hale End's finest have chosen to seek pastures new.

Over the summer, the north Londoners lost teen superstars Reuell Walters and Amario Cozier-Duberry for nothing, after failing to offer significant first-team involvement. There appears to have been a shift in that thinking with Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly – ranked at no.12 and no.40 in FourFourTwo's list of the most exciting teenagers to watch this season – playing more this season.

But not everyone has been so lucky. Tommy Setford, Ismeal Kabia, Maldini Kacurri, Josh Nichols, Jack Porter and Ayden Heaven have all been involved in matchday squads this season – as much due to the injury problems in the first-team. None of them have been handed Premier League minutes, though.

Now, the Athletic have reported on comments that Eintracht Frankfurt CEO Markus Krosche made to ESPN after Die Adler's victory over Borussia Dortmund, in which he claimed that talks have begun over signing Heaven.

“We spoke to Arsenal. We [tried] to sign him,” Krosche said of the 18-year-old, who has played just 10 minutes of football under Arteta. “He’s a really good prospect and we’ll see if we can find a solution with him.”

Arsenal have offered Heaven a professional contract, but with the teenager weighing up whether he'll get a pathway into the first team, the Bundesliga could provide him with an easier way into senior football, as it has done with fellow Hale Enders, Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson and Xavier Amaechi.

In addition to losing talented teenagers, Arteta lost a key coach in the youth set-up, Jack Wilshere, to Norwich City earlier this season, while sporting director Edu Gaspar has left, too.

Heaven is worth just £300,000, according to Transfermarkt. Arsenal take on Dinamo Zagreb this week when Champions League action returns.

FourFourTwo's view: Arsenal have one of the best academies in world football, but it's not functioning to the best of its potential

The importance of Arsenal's Hale End has never been clearer than under Arteta. Not only has the Basque brought several superstars into his first-team set-up, the Gunners have managed to generate sales that help boost the club's compliance Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), by selling the likes of Eddie Nketiah.

But there have been significant failures for every clear success of the academy. Charlie Patino was regarded as one of the finest prospects in English football: he was perhaps given the wrong loans and was allowed to leave over the summer to Deportivo La Coruna, of all places.

Not every player will be suitable for Arteta's thinking – but while the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea are the masters of platforming their prospects with impressive loan moves, Arsenal have rarely sent players on loan to Europe's top five leagues. Those that have had such spells, such as Folarin Balogun, have had huge success: while the likes of Patino have struggled with the physicality of the English lower leagues.

With a few players seemingly comfortable in youth football right now – including Heaven – the challenge of the step up to the senior game needs to come sooner, and for a club that can showcase their talent. Arsenal might not be able to integrate every wonderkid in their armoury… but they can at least prepare them for transfers elsewhere.