Five Arsenal youth players have travelled with the team to Madrid for Wednesday night’s Champions League quarter-final, with all five likely to make the squad.
Arsenal received a couple of injury boosts on Tuesday, with Ben White and Thomas Partey involved in a training session after their recent knocks, but the Gunners are still down to 18 senior players – even including Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri.
Given the Champions League squads allow for 23 players, Mikel Arteta has five spare spots available to him.
That doesn’t necessarily guarantee that he’ll fill them. Arsenal only named a squad of 21 against Real Madrid last week, leaving two spaces empty. But this time around, it appears Arteta plans to fill the gaps with academy players.
Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, Jack Henry-Francis, Tommy Setford, Jimi Gower, Michal Rosiak were all pictured boarding Arsenal’s flight to Madrid, suggesting those are the five to be called up.
Assuming all of Arsenal’s available senior players have travelled, including White, that would mean a full squad of 23 this time around.
Butler-Oyedeji is a forward, capable of playing out wide or as a central striker. Henry-Francis and Gower are defensive midfielders, whilst Setford is Arsenal’s third-choice goalkeeper.
Rosiak can play at right-back or in midfield, so he’s a versatile addition to the squad. He’s also an excellent free-kick taker, but perhaps Arsenal already have that job covered in this tie.