Arsenal academy chief Per Mertesacker has revealed a new standard they're established for the club's youth teamers.
Mertesacker revealed that Arsenal have developed a "four pillar" system which covers everything from how much they impact proceedings on the pitch to how they are developing in their lives away from football.
"We came up with four pillars that we wanted to progress with. For the football pillar, it's about what makes an effective team player. It's about how we measure players by what they do on the pitch but also how we measure them in times of life-long learning," he explained.
"That's also a pillar - you have to put education first and have a hunger for personal development, while also making sure that you are a student of the game.
"The third pillar is about the physical things, specifically making sure you're as efficient a mover as you can be. It's about getting your football actions right and maximising what you do on the pitch in terms of the movements a football player needs to have."
Mertesacker went on to explain how the fourth pillar focuses more on an individual's mindset and mental strength, revealing: "The fourth pillar is really about mindset - we call it champion mentality.
"Not everyone will necessarily lift a trophy, but it's about your mentality and dedicating every single day, every month, every year to your development and making yourself the best person you can be. That's champion mentality.
"The ones who have that will be successful in football and in life. We try to measure around these four pillars and make sure that the players have a target that they can work towards for each of them. That's how we started the journey."
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