Brooke Norton-Cuffy appears to be back slightly ahead of schedule, joining up with the Arsenal u23s for their trip away to Leeds United on Friday.

Arsenal Youth report that academy defender Brooke Norton-Cuffy is in the Arsenal u23 squad to face Leeds United in the Premier League 2 on Friday night.

Norton-Cuffy hasn’t played since he picked up a knee injury in August, and he had to have surgery on the problem in mid-September. On the final weekend of the month, Arsenal confirmed in their matchday programme that the defender would miss around six weeks.

Just under five weeks later, it looks like Norton-Cuffy is available for selection again.

The 17-year-old will be returning to a Kevin Betsy system that arguably suits him better than the one he left. Betsy is using wing-backs with a lot of freedom to get forward at the moment, something Norton-Cuffy excels at.

The u23s have had plenty of alternatives to fill in at right-wing-back, in the teenager’s absence. Ryan Alebiosu has made himself a starter recently with some impressive wing-back performances opposite Joel Lopez. There’s also Zak Swanson, and young Reuell Walters.

But Norton-Cuffy has looked an exciting prospect since breaking into the u23s last season, and it will be good to see him back again.