by Nia Griffiths

After 19-year-old Alex Iwobi scored on his debut for the senior team during Arsenal’s 6-0 thumping of Lyon, Arsene Wenger had high praise for Arsenal’s youngsters.

Iwobi scored a stunning finish during the Gunner’s drubbing of the Ligue 1 side – fantastic considering he’d never played for the first team before and only made 25 appearances for the u21s last season.

Also amongst the youngsters to make an appearance was Chuba Akpom, who is becoming more and more familiar with the senior squad and scored a hat-trick against Singapore Select XI while away on pre-season tour, and Jeff Reine-Adelaide, who’s only 17-years-old.

Speaking after the match, Wenger said, “One of the advantages of pre-season games like that is that it’s competitive and it’s a good opportunity to see some promising talents. We saw Alex Iwobi, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Chuba Akpom and because they practice with us it makes it easier for them to integrate into the team.”

Indeed, the Emirates Cup has become renowned for showcasing the best of Arsenal’s up-and-coming talent. However, rarely have they shown such promise. Although there’s always been potential in many of our youth players, more often than not, they’ll remain firmly in the reserves, perhaps making it out for one or two cup matches for the first team.

Saturday’s match seemed different. The youngsters, particularly Iwobi and Akpom, seem like huge prospects and it’ll be exciting to see if they star for us next season.