Arsenal are set to face Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Wednesday - two teams Robbie Burton knows all too familiarly. The 25-year-old spent 14 years in Arsenal's youth set-up between 2006 and 2020, working his way up to captain at the U23 level and even impressing first-team manager Unai Emery thanks to a recommendation from Freddie Llungberg.
Burton found himself part of Emery's pre-season squad for the 2019/20 campaign, where he made a second-half appearance in a 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in California. Speaking of the Swede's influence at the time, Emery said: "Very positive. We worked last year with Steve Bould and Freddie with the Under-23s.
"We changed because for them it was a good option. With Freddie we are working. Above all he’s helping us with the young players because he knows better than us every young player. For example Robbie [Burton], I didn’t know Robbie. Freddie said to me he’s a good player with the capacity to play as a 6 or 8. Really he helped us like we needed.".
While Burton showed a wealth of promise to one day break into the Arsenal first team or even represent the Welsh national team, it simply wasn't meant to be. He parted ways with Arsenal in 2020 to explore other avenues, joining Dinamo Zagreb in a reported £800,000 transfer.
The central midfielder initially signed a professional contract with the Croatian capital's B-Team in the Druga NHL before soon after making his way into the first team. On his move, he told The Sun in 2021: "It was a risk to move here. I felt I was ready for first-team football and I’d got to an age where I needed that experience.
