Strasbourg’s De Maesschalck named Arsenal Academy Director

Prior to Strasbourg, De Maesschalck spent three years as Director of Youth Development at AS Monaco, following a highly successful 10-year spell as Head of Academy at Club Brugge, where he established a reputation for developing young talent and creating clear pathways to first-team football.

Arsenal said De Maesschalck would help “further strengthen our recruitment of outstanding young talent from across the UK and around the world” and that his appointment “reflects our continued commitment to building one of the world’s leading Academies and ensuring talented young players have the environment, support and opportunities to reach their full potential.”

Berta said: “We are delighted to welcome Pascal to Arsenal. He brings extensive experience from some of Europe’s leading football clubs and has an outstanding track record in youth development.

“We are excited to have him with us as we continue to build for the future, developing young players and identifying the best emerging talent to join Arsenal on a journey towards professional football.”

De Maesschalck replaces World Cup winner Per Mertesacker, who stepped down at the end of last season after eight years in the role.

The German, who took on the position after retiring from playing in 2018, installed the ‘Strong Young Gunners’ vision at Arsenal’s Academy and a number of homegrown players made their mark in the first team during his time at the club – Bukayo Saka being the flagbearer.

Arsenal’s former U15/16 Lead Dan Micciche spoke about the influence of his boss on Episode #21 of the TGG Podcast in 2021.

“We are very fortunate to have a leader here who is extremely humble and who practices what he preaches in terms of the values he wants for the Academy,” Micciche said.

“He’s a fantastic role model. He does remind me a lot of my time working with Gareth Southgate at the FA – both have been there, seen it, done it, but you’d never know it. You’d only find out about his experiences by chance or if you really probed him.

“That shows fantastic humility, but it’s down to us to try and draw knowledge from him. I think he’s been very strategic in the time I’ve been at the club, in terms of what he’s trying to achieve and his vision and mission.”

• Want to hear more from Mertesacker himself? His presentation at TGG’s 2021 Youth Development Webinar is available for free to TGG Members. This is one of 14 webinars and more than 100 presentations in our Members’ archive.