Arsenal youth goalkeeper Karl Hein was voted Estonia’s best male junior player of the year for 2020, after his breakthrough into the national side.

On Monday, the official Estonia National Team Instagram account confirmed Karl Hein had won the fan vote for their 2020 junior player of the year.

It’s not exactly a surprise, considering the Arsenal youngster has become a senior starter for his national side at 18 years old. Hein started all of Estonia’s last six competitive matches after his debut in September 2020.

At club level, Hein has also made regular appearances with the u23s. Recently, the only reason he hasn’t been appearing for the academy side is that he’s either been away with Estonia, on the bench for the first team or in training with them.

For example, Hein missed out on Friday’s Premier League 2 match against Leicester City because he was taking part in that day’s first-team session ahead of the Premier League match against Everton.

He’s yet to make a league squad under Arteta, but he appears to be the fourth-choice goalkeeper at the club right now. When Matt Macey leaves in the summer, or earlier, Hein may well take his place.

Regardless of how quickly he progresses up to the first team at Arsenal, it’s great to see Hein getting some recognition from his country.