It has been a summer of considerable change for Arsenal at youth level, with Andries Jonker formally taking up his position as the club’s new Academy manager, whilst there have been numerous acquisitions of promising players from various clubs to help swell this year’s scholarship intake.
The effects of last season’s challenging campaign can still be felt, however, as Arsenal’s failure to finish amongst the top clubs in the U21 Premier League means that they have been demoted to the newly-implemented second tier for the forthcoming season.
Instead of high-profile clashes against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, the second-string, who will be jointly managed by Steve Gatting and Carl Laraman, will instead be pitting their wits against a rather less glamorous list of opponents including Reading, Derby County and Brighton & Hove Albion.
All hope is not lost, though. The fact that they are competing in the second division may actually turn out to be a positive if the young Gunners can finally string together a consistent set of performances and results at that level, something that has eluded them in recent years. Furthermore, they will receive the opportunity to play at some prominent venues across the country including Emirates Stadium and St James’ Park.
As far as the playing squad is concerned, several players were let go in the summer, the most prominent of which was Chuks Aneke, whilst Benik Afobe and Austin Lipman have gone out on loan to MK Dons and Boreham Wood respectively. Emiliano Martinez, meanwhile, has officially been promoted to the first-team squad as third-choice goalkeeper.
Spanish defenders Hector Bellerin and Ignasi Miquel could yet join him in that regard, whilst a clutch of players, including Isaac Hayden, Kristoffer Olsson, Chuba Akpom and Jon Toral, could experience loan spells at some point during the campaign.
Full-backs Tafari Moore and Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill will gain further experience of U21 football, with centre-back Semi Ajayi hoping to prove that he is capable of breaking into the first-team squad as he enters the final year of his contract.
Wingers Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Alex Iwobi will add a dash of vibrancy to the side, but most eyes will be on the considerable talents of Gedion Zelalem, Dan Crowley and Chris Willock. Zelalem and Crowley are familiar faces to anybody who followed the Arsenal youth teams’ last season, but Willock, a winger who featured for the first-team in their friendly against Boreham Wood last month, could be fast-tracked to the U21 squad during the first year of his scholarship.
As far as the U18s are concerned, it will be a much-changed group, and there have been some alterations in the coaching staff, too, with Dutchman Frans de Kat joining Kwame Ampadu in taking charge at that level.
The Gunners may have just missed out on the signature of Georgios Spanoudakis from Barcelona, but they have managed to lure some intriguing talents to North London of late. Finnish goalkeeper Hugo Keto looks a good prospect, whilst Greek youngsters Ilias Chatzitheodoridis (a left-back) and Savvas Mourgos (a central-midfielder) have been recruited from Arsenal’s Elite Academy in their homeland.
A little closer to home, England U16 international Ben Sheaf has joined from West Ham United’s famed academy and he is already familiar with some members of the Arsenal squad, including Willock and striker Kaylen Hinds.
