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There’s no doubt Arsenal have the ability to bring quality players through the academy and into the first team. Cast your mind back to a golden era for the Gunners and you’ll recall that Tony Adams, Ray Parlour and Paul Merson came through the academy. In more recent years Arsenal have seen players such as Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere and Alex Iwobi rise through the ranks. Hector Bellerin even joined as a scholar in 2011 from Barcelona’s youth teams to impress in the academy.
In keeping with that rich tradition, Arsenal now have a very exciting group of young players ready to show the boss what they can do in the Premier League. In fact, soe observers even feel this is the best crop for a long while.
Will our new wave of youngsters have what it takes to help Unai Emery and Arsenal achieve a top four league finish, and maybe even reach the Europa League final for a second consecutive year? Let’s take a look at the five Arsenal youngsters that are ready to shine.
Joe Willock
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder has been showing his potential for a while now and is really starting to grow in stature. Emery gave Willock six appearances during the 2018/19 season and he’s set for far more this year after signing a long-term contract with Arsenal in September. More recently he put in a great performance for Arsenal’s 3-0 Europa League win against Eintracht Frankfurt, scoring the opener.
Reiss Nelson
Even though Nelson made his club debut over two years ago, the forward is still just 19-years-old. Last season he was out on loan at German side Hoffenheim and started extremely brightly scoring six goals in his first seven games but then picked up a back injury and lost a bit of form. Regardless, his scintillating start in the Bundesliga showed fans what he’s capable of.
Bukayo Saka
Saka really seems to be flourishing under Emery’s guidance and, at just 18-years-old, this midfielder is showing shed loads of promise. The youngster shocked Eintracht Frankfurt by scoring a goal and creating two more in Arsenal’s 3-0 win on 19 September. Saka’s performance lit up the Europa League stage – hard-working, creative and dynamic, this player has an incredible amount of promise.
Emile Smith Rowe
Another 19-year-old academy prospect, Smith Rowe is an attacking midfielder hoping to show Emery and Freddie Ljungberg what he can do. He got 60 minutes in the 3-0 Europa League win but had a bit of a tough time. The manager told the official website after the game:
“It was a big opportunity but also we needed to protect him. He worked very well and I was very happy with him. I told him that.”
There’s no doubt he’s a hard worker, but he returned from his loan spell at RB Leipzig with an injury – he actually only three appearances in Germany due to the injury – so may take a little more time to get back to form.
Eddie Nketiah
Fans – including Gunners legend Ian Wright – have been, and will continue to be, keeping an eye on Eddie Nketiah during his loan spell at Leeds United in the Championship. Since arriving at Elland Road, the young striker has scored four times in six games in the League and also the League Cup.
Nketiah will always have a special place in the hearts of Arsenal fans as he saved our blushes in the 2017 Carabao Cup against Norwich at the Emirates. The Canaries went 1-0 up after 34 minutes thanks to a Josh Murphy strike, and that’s how the score remained until the 85 minute mark when the Arsenal forward was brought on to equalise. Chants of ‘Eddie! Eddie!’ filled the stadium and he went on to score again in extra time to take the win.
He’s sure to come back under the wing of Emery full of confidence after his loan spell with Marcelo Bielsa – and is a future prospect we should all be excited about.
