This is the first in a series looking at what happened to players who didn’t quite make it to become first-team regulars, but went on to have interesting careers after leaving Arsenal. 

Miguel Azeez apologises for the two-minute delay. He was caught up playing Supersoulfighter by Lenny Kravitz on his electric guitar.

“My neighbours are probably frustrated with me — they hear me singing, playing guitar or piano from the moment I wake up,” he says.

It is not difficult to see why he says he is regularly teased that he is the doppelganger of any one of his three musical idols: Kravitz, Prince or Michael Jackson.

The former Arsenal midfielder is sporting a black vest, gold chain, earrings and blackout sunglasses. Along with the cornrow braids, the tattoos on his arms and a bone structure that could grate cheese, the 22-year-old has the full image.

That striking look is what he believes has contributed to his career drifting since he made his Arsenal debut as an 18-year-old in December 2020 during a Europa League win away to Dundalk.

As a player who modelled his game on Sergio Busquets, there were once hopes he would one day become a permanent member of the Arsenal midfield. He is spending this season at Greek second-tier side PAS Giannina, after seven months at Spanish third-division club Atletico Baleares.

They are his first permanent clubs since joining Arsenal’s academy shortly before his fifth birthday, the place he called home until last February.

His Instagram grid has become a much more varied place since. It still features regular football snaps but it contains just as many images of music, art and fashion photoshoots — which he first got a taste for as a teenage Adidas athlete.

Azeez is unapologetic in not subscribing to what he sees as the “three points, we go again” herd. He is comfortable sharing his hairstyle changing from an afro to dreadlocks, excited to showcase his style in the form of a mink coat, diamante leather trousers or leopard print boots.

“I don’t think I really tapped into my identity until 16, 17, 18,” Azeez tells The Athletic. “If you asked the average player who they want to be versus who they are, it’d be two completely different people. As soon as they walk into the training ground, they have to change.

“Especially in the football environment, there is this pressure to be a footballer and nothing else. If you have a different hairstyle (people think) that means you are not concentrating on football… it doesn’t. I’m still going to train and play as well as I can. It is as simple as that, but people in football want 25, 26 clones.”

Azeez felt these preconceptions acutely in his late teenage years at Arsenal as he began to express himself. “I definitely felt, not adversity, but being misjudged,” he says.

“Ask anyone at Arsenal — I was always first into training and last to leave. If I looked like a quintessential footballer they would not have thought anything of it but because of how I looked, the hairstyles, the face, jewellery, whatever it was, they would say, ‘He is trying to be aloof by coming in early to be by himself’. I was just trying to improve.

“That word ‘aloof’ was used against me at Arsenal. My team-mates were in the changing room on their phones on Snapchat when I was in the gym working, but they would just see me by myself and put two and two together.

“The players seemed to take to it, which was nice. It was from the coaching side of things. I don’t know if it was an upbringing thing or a hierarchy thing. I took it as people thinking, ‘Who does he think he is? Does he think he is better than me?’. Nah, I’m just being myself. I’m not causing any harm by wearing a pair of heels.

“There was always this thing representing the badge. I get that, but I think they wanted a different image to what I was giving. I guess there’s a lot of people who would change their personalities just to get to where they felt they needed to be. I’ve always said I’m a person who plays football. When people start to think they are a footballer before they’re a person, that’s when they start to change who they are.”

Azeez playing for Arsenal under-21s in 2020 (James Chance/Getty Images)

Does Azeez believe if he had toned down some aspects of his personality and made a conscious effort to fit into the mould things may be different? “Possibly,” he says.

“But I feel like I would lose myself. My mental well-being as a person and my happiness is more important. A lot of players when they stop playing football don’t know who they are anymore. There’s nothing else. It’s football, football, football, go to training and be who people want you to be then go home. That’s it. When they finish things like depression kick in.

“It just felt like, unless I change my personality and become one of the other boys who look the same, act the same, speak the same, then I can’t win. That’s life, and I dealt with it. I’m still dealing with it I guess.”

Azeez ran into similar issues during his first loan spell at Portsmouth, in League One at the time, in August 2021.

“As a person, I’m outspoken. If I believe something, I say it,” he says. “It was a squad meeting where we were to say our ambitions for the season and career. I said I wanted to be one of the best players in the world, which I still say. I didn’t know this until after I left but it was taken as, ‘Who is he coming from Arsenal saying this?’ but that was just my goal.”

He was sent back to Arsenal in January. “There are some areas of his game that are beyond this level and other areas that he needs to keep working at, as with any young player,” said then manager Danny Cowley when he left Fratton Park.

“I can say there were things I needed to work on in my game,” responds Azeez. “That is the whole reason of the loan system and I was 18. If you expect me to have everything at 18, then I’d be Lionel Messi.” 

His next loan spell was at UD Ibiza in September 2022, in Spain’s second tier, before being sent on loan to then Championship side Wigan Athletic in January 2023 where he was excited to be working with Kolo Toure and Kevin Betsy, who managed him at Arsenal’s academy.

Hopes of a consistent run looked bright after two impressive games, but Toure was sacked and his replacement, Shaun Maloney, did not include him in any squads for the rest of the season. “I don’t really know what happened. I liked his style and thought I would suit it but every manager has their own ideas and people,” says Azeez.

In his parting message to the Arsenal support 12 months ago, the picture he used was him attempting a rabona. It is in keeping with his swashbuckling style, which was present when he was discovered playing for Harrow St Mary’s in north west London aged four.

“I went in with a Brazil kit as I thought I was Ronaldinho. I have a photo of me holding the ball on my back. I had one game and scored three or four goals.”

Trialling at the same time was Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, who made his Arsenal debut at the age of 22 last month when he came on as a substitute against Dinamo Zagreb.

“He’s one of my close friends. His mum used to take us to training. Not a lot of players can say that they played for their boyhood club and completed a childhood dream. I did. Except from Nathan and me, no one else from our team played for the first team.” 

After loan spells in League Two and League One with Accrington Stanley and Cheltenham Town, Butler-Oyedeji could now find himself thrust into the Arsenal first team due to the injury problems in attack. It could well vindicate his decision to stay at Arsenal.

Azeez had a similar crossroads when he had to choose whether to sign professional terms in 2019. It was at the same time Milan midfielder Yunus Musah decided his career would be better served away from Arsenal. He has since played 176 times for Valencia and Milan, winning 45 caps for the USMNT.

“There were second thoughts in mind (about signing his deal),” says Azeez.

“I thought at the time, the way they were talking and expressing their love for me as a player, it was going to happen. ‘You are going to sign, you’re going to do this, this, this.’ It didn’t come to fruition.”

Azeez during his spell at Porstmouth (Jacques Feeney/Getty Images)

Azeez is grateful for memorable experiences practising knuckleball free kicks with David Luiz and on-loan Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos, as well as an interaction with Mesut Ozil.

“Ozil rarely spoke when he trained, so when he did to me I looked behind to see if there was someone else but it was me. He started telling me where to stand to get the ball and that I didn’t always have to be moving. It is one of my most vivid memories.”

Azeez captained Arsenal’s Premier League 2 team and, at various points in 2020 and 2021, there was a groundswell of social media support for him to be given a chance by Mikel Arteta — particularly after a purple patch in which he scored a sublime solo goal against Chelsea and produced a series of long-range strikes that went viral.

That footwork. That nutmeg. That finish.

Take a bow, @MiguelAzeez 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jf4CeLLlXN

— Arsenal Academy (@ArsenalAcademy) May 12, 2021

“I’ve always said I would rather there be no phones and no social media. Then there’s no external expectations,” he says.

“When you’re young and a decent player, the fans see it and want you to be in as soon as possible. I was trending many times and it does have an impact on how a player feels, that they’re not getting opportunities here and maybe the people are right and I should move on.”

Azeez turned down a new contract in 2023 before leaving the following year. “I felt like I had to go,” he says. “You would train with the 21s, be in with the first team and be on the bench but not get on. I had to try to create my own path.

“I don’t think anybody would like a player not extending their contract, but it wasn’t the nicest send-off. Normally, a player who was leaving would get their shirt signed by all the players and staff. I didn’t get that or a meeting saying goodbye. Not that I cared as I don’t need that to feel validated but me being the longest-serving player, it would have been nice to get something.”

Indifferent loan spells mean Azeez has just 51 senior appearances under his belt. He was aware he needed to play regularly but some were surprised he moved to the Spanish third tier and then Greece.

“It wasn’t for lifestyle, it was because of the opportunities. There weren’t any teams in England who wanted or needed me. It is more important to get the minutes than where they are. I’m playing really well. I feel like I’ve found the old Miguel when I was playing as a No 6.”

Had he lost the old one? “Definitely,” he says.

He is now taking inspiration from older brother Femi, who is a regular for Millwall.

While Azeez was an England youth regular between under-16 and under-20 level alongside Morgan Rogers, Tino Livramento, James McAtee and Noni Madueke, Femi was in non-League with Northwood and Wealdstone.

“He’s been so headstrong,” Azeez says. “He could have easily quit or given up so I’m so proud of him. He scored two goals recently against Leeds (in the FA Cup). He made sure to continue working and now he’s reaping the rewards.”

So can Miguel follow Femi’s lead and return to an elite level? “People are inclined to have a perception of me (off Instagram) but people who know me know that it is just my personality. Me posting a picture of my face doesn’t mean that I didn’t train half an hour before that. The motivation and drive is still there. I can get back to the top, for sure.”

(Top image: Design: Will Tullos; Stuart MacFarlane/Getty Images)