The step up from youth team football to the first team is a leap that has no formula and works differently for each and every individual. Some elite players will be streamlined straight into the first team and ready to play on the biggest stage.

Meanwhile, others might need various loan spells before returning to their parent club to make an impact.

A lot of the time individuals may go out on several loans before returning to their club and being told they no longer have a future at their parent club and will go to a side elsewhere to play their football.

Loan spells are an intriguing part of football and can have several different outcomes which impact the individual and their parent club.

Nathan Tella excelling at Burnley 

Take this Premier League season for example and Southampton Football Club sending young talent Nathan Tella out for his first loan spell since he signed for Southampton.

His time away from the club has been the perfect solution for him as he’s thrived, scoring 19 goals and three assists already this campaign in a Burnley side that currently sits top of the Championship.

Tella had only scored two goals for Southampton’s first team to date and appears to have found a new lease of life at Vincent Kompany’s side.

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Maitland-Niles struggling to find his feet 

On the other side of the spectrum at Southampton, you have a loanee that they received in Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles who's loan at the Saints is the fourth of the 25-year-old’s career.

Maitland-Niles has struggled for minutes at Arsenal after being deemed not part of current boss Mikel Arteta’s immediate plans and has been sent out a number of times and failed to find a permanent home.

Academies in the Premier League all have their respective systems and use them to generate players that can be used in their side or sold on for a profit at some point after they decide that they’re not part of the long-term plans for the club.

A high number of players struggle to make the step up to men's football having excelled at youth level in their club academies.

But why is this? One of the main differences when stepping up from the academy to men's football is the physicality of the game and the intensity across a 90 minutes.

There’s also the inclusion of much larger groups of supporters in the stands and the added element of intimidating atmospheres away from home at some grounds when you go up the football league.

Stapleton's verdict 

One man who highlighted the challenges in the step-up from academy football to the men's game is former Arsenal scout and current Football Consultant for a sports agency Brian Stapleton.

During his days at Arsenal, Stapleton was heavily involved in bringing several players to the club at a young age including current loanee Charlie Patino, Southampton’s Nathan Tella and many more.

“It’s a lot of kids who haven’t physically developed and they haven’t got the strength to deal with men's football,” Stapleton said.

“The biggest issue is you’re going from boys to a men's environment, and you’ve got to deal with both the physical and mental side of it and you’ve really got to step up and think you’re good enough and as good as your teammates.

“They need to have the belief and confidence on the pitch and want the ball and feel worthy enough to be there. The tackles are harder, the challenges are harder and the movement’s quicker”.

Preparation is key

Another key part of the game that Stapleton highlighted was the mental aspect when stepping up from an environment being surrounded by 18–20-year-olds, to finding yourself in a dressing room with men aged anywhere up to their mid-thirties.

The former Arsenal scout highlighted the preparation done by Arsenal player currently on loan at Blackpool Charlie Patino, who went through an extensive training programme during the off-season to prepare himself both mentally and physically for the test of playing Championship football the next season.

“Anyone going into the environment of men's football from youth would need a training programme behind,” he added.

“One where they mentally prepare you for what’s ahead because it’s a massive step up and you’ve got to change quickly because if you don’t you can be left behind.

"In my opinion, having that programme behind you enables you to take the challenge head-on and it’s really important for a player”.

In some instances, it doesn’t work out for players who can find themselves at several clubs from year to year and they struggle to find a place to call home.

Massey on reaching a ceiling

Someone who’s seen situations like these hundreds of times is the former long-term head of Arsenal’s Academy and youth development, Roy Massey who oversaw the development of many high-profile Arsenal players ranging from Jack Wilshere to Bukayo Saka to Chuba Akpom.

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Massey, who was at the north London club for 15 years, took a while to comment on this as he paused for thought, taking a deep breath as his mind recalled the vast number of players he’d seen come through Arsenal’s academy system and the many outcomes they had experienced in their careers.

“In every player, I think there’s a certain level when they can't reach any further than that, and I also feel it’s linked to mental approach to how far you can go in the game,” he said.

“You can have all the skill and ability but if you don’t have that mental toughness and mental drive I don’t feel you have what it takes to make it at the top level.”

Kane decision regrets 

Someone Massey highlights as having an elite mindset from youth level to the very highest is England captain Harry Kane whom the former head of Hale End reveals he chose to release from the club having been in Arsenal’s academy for a period of time at youth level.

“I didn’t see it at Under 12’s schoolboy level but Harry Kane had it,” he said.

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“I remember speaking to one of his coaches at Tottenham a number of years ago about Harry and he told me that rain, sleet, shine or snow after every training session he’d come up to me and ask if he could stay and do another hour of shooting practice.

“The coaches and goalkeepers felt they had an obligation to stay out for Harry and his attitude rubbed off on his teammates across every level he played at.”

Kane is now England’s record goal scorer and has a host of golden boots to his collection as well as many personal accolades achieved for both club and country at Tottenham and England. 

One key component of a loan spell being successful that both Stapleton and Massey highlighted was the importance of getting game time and playing as many minutes of football as possible.

The original reason for sending the player away from the club for a year would be for them to gain experience that truthfully there wasn’t the time or space for them to gather at their parent club, therefore playing as many minutes during that year is of the highest importance.

“The worst thing that can happen during a loan is that the player plays a couple of games and is then left out,” Massey shared.

“If the loan club play the player on a regular basis, then they’re going to develop all of the experience they're going to need to come back and play in the first team or make an impact.

The perfect example is Nathan Tella, he’s unbelievable, what a season he’s having at Burnley!”

Norton-Cuffy stepping outside comfort zone

This season young defender on loan from Arsenal, Brooke Norton-Cuffy finds himself gaining experience away from the club for the second season in a row, currently playing for Championship side Coventry City.

Last campaign when he went out for his first-ever loan he told Arsenal.com that when he heard about the possibility of gaining experience elsewhere, he jumped at the opportunity, joining League One side Lincoln City for the entirety of the 2021/22 campaign.

“When I heard about the loan deal I thought it was a step I needed to take,” Norton-Cuffy told Arsenal.

“I’ve seen the likes of Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith-Rowe who have gone out and kicked on from there and done well for themselves, getting minutes in the first team.

“I was hoping that I could do well, go out on loan and do the same thing myself after one or two spells.”

Norton-Cuffy shared that when he arrived at the League One outfit one of the main challenges was stepping outside his comfort zone and taking the initial move. He also shared that nerves affected him early on in his time at the club.

“It’s a completely new experience for me,” He told.

“I’d say a bit outside my comfort zone having been at Arsenal for such a long time now, it was nerve-wracking.

“It eased when I came onto the pitch for the first time though and when I got my first few touches I started to grow into the game.

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Despite loans being different per athlete and individual and different techniques working for some and not others, some of the main takeaways gathered by Stapleton and Leonard include the fact that mental and physical preparation, the desire to work hard and always learn are some characteristics that can enhance the chances of an individual having a successful loan spell and help to make the step up from academy to men's football.

They also shared that maintaining healthy and productive relationships with staff and teammates is something that is crucial to a player's development and the sooner a player feels settled, the higher chance they have of playing the best football that they can.