On Tuesday, Arsenal’s u18s won 5-1 against Colchester United to qualify for the FA Youth Cup semi-final, but which of the youngsters could someday make the first team?
There’s no doubting that the Arsenal academy have a load of promising players coming through. We all know about the likes of Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock in the u23s, but the next level down is offering just as much excitement.
Arsene Wenger told Arsenal Player on Tuesday: “I’m convinced that in the next two or three years, Arsenal will have a lot of satisfaction on [the academy] front. I’m convinced that the way for Arsenal to come back to fight for the Premier League is to rely on a core of young player to come out of our football club.”
So which of the youngsters involved in the cup run are most likely to knock on the door of the first team?
4Folarin Balogun
- Age: 16
- Position: Centre-forward
Still just 16 years old, Balogun wasn’t initially part of the Youth Cup run, only making the bench. However, the striker has been on fire with the u18s in the league all season.
In his last three league games he scored four goals and provided two assists, so it was no surprise to see him finally get a start against Colchester United in the cup quarter-final.
As usual, he made the most of that start with a goal, Arsenal’s fourth on the night.
Powerful and clinical, the young striker is just unlucky the Arsenal academy have Nketiah and John-Jules in the u23s. Otherwise he’d surely have played more than the 102 minutes he has this season for the top academy side.
Given his age, he’ll get plenty more chances in the coming years.
2017/18 stats
- Premier League 2 (u23s): 4 appearances.
- U18 Premier League: 13 appearances, 9 goals, 3 assists.
- FA Youth Cup: 1 appearances, 1 goal.
- Overall: 18 appearances, 10 goals, 3 assists.