Three Arsenal youngsters trained with the first-team this week, giving us another hint at who might be the next to step up to the senior side for future fixtures.

Spotted in training pictures amongst the likes of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, three Arsenal academy prospects got the chance to test themselves against the best players the club have to offer.

Let’s have a look at who they are, how each of them are performing this season and how close they are to the first team:

Charlie Gilmour

• Age: 19
• Position: Defensive midfield
• Youth appearances (2018/19): 10
• Youth goals (2018/19): 2
• Youth assists (2018/19): 1

Gilmour has been around the first-team for a while now, without making his debut. He made the bench for a Europa League match against BATE Borisov last season but didn’t quite manage to get on the pitch. Arsene Wenger gave chances to Joe Willock and Marcus McGuane that night, so there wasn’t much room for another youth midfielder.

The young Scotland u19 international has since nailed down a starting spot for the u23s, after being in and out of the team for much of last season. As a result, he’s starting to hover around the senior side once again, as shown by this latest appearance in training.

Gilmour is a physical defensive midfielder with a good pass on him, and he was at his best in a dominant performance against Tottenham u23s back in August.

The Brighton-born teenager is in Arsenal’s Europa League squad, on the B-list, so he’s available for FC Vorskla or Qarabag if Unai Emery decides to rotate. The head coach may well decide he needs to do so, as Arsenal have a number of big Premier League matches to think about in December.

Click ‘Next’ for the second member of the Arsenal academy participating in first-team training this week

Zech Medley

• Age: 18
• Position: Centre-back
• Youth appearances (2018/19): 7

Medley is one of three Arsenal youngsters to make the first-team squad this season without playing a single minute for the senior side just yet. Unai Emery selected him for the bench in the game against Leicester City last month.

Captain of the u18s at the start of last season, Medley is certainly making a rapid rise to the first team, becoming a key player for the u23s on the way.

The defender appeared in 13 of Arsenal’s 22 Premier League 2 matches last season on the way to the title and, this season, he’s helped the Gunners keep clean sheets against Blackburn and Liverpool u23s, as well as the Coventry City senior team.

The 6’4″ centre-back has clearly caught his manager’s eye in training, considering he got the first-team squad call-up ahead of a number of other strong defensive options in the academy.

Medley is unfortunately ineligible for the Europa League, having spent less than two years at the club and not making Arsenal’s A-list squad. The FA Cup looks like his next best chance for minutes.

Click ‘Next’ for the third member of the Arsenal academy participating in first-team training this week

Dominic Thompson

• Age: 18
• Position: Left-Back
• Youth appearances (2018/19): 4

Thompson has only recently made the step up to u23 football at Arsenal. After featuring solely in the u18s last season, he made his debut at the top academy level from the bench in October. He followed that up with his first start later in the month against Swansea.

Even before that though, the left-back was impressing Unai Emery. Jeorge Bird tweeted in September that the youngster had seemingly moved ahead of Tolaji Bola in the pecking order for the first-team. Thompson then trained with the senior side on at least two separate occasions in October, before his latest appearance this week.

With Nacho Monreal’s injury problems dragging on, Ainsley Maitland-Niles seemingly moving to the right-hand side, Stephan Lichtsteiner out and Carl Jenkinson needed as a backup right-back, Thompson could well be called upon to rotate with Sead Kolasinac for the final Europa League group stage matches.

The left-back is in the full Europa League squad, and Arsenal have big games to think about either side of their trip to Vorskla. We’ll see.