Seven Arsenal academy players were involved in first-team training on Friday, including one of the club’s current loanees.
Jeorge Bird reports for Arsenal Youth that at least seven of Arsenal’s academy players were involved in first-team training on Friday, based on photos of the session posted online.
Max Dowman was an unsurprising call-up, as he continues to get senior opportunities, but there were also chances for right-back Josh Nichols, winger Seb Ferdinand, left-back Marcell Washington, midfielders Harrison Dudziak and Theo Julienne, and loan forward Daniel Oyetunde.
Oyetunde is currently on loan with St. Albans City, but it’s not unusual to see non-league loanees still training with Arsenal.
St. Albans play in the seventh tier of the English footballing pyramid, and many of the players in those lower leagues will only be semi-professional. As a result, second jobs will fill their time most weekdays.
By contrast, Oyetunde is on a professional contract at Arsenal, and should have more time for training. When St. Albans can’t provide sessions, his parent club can welcome him back.
It helps that St. Albans’ home ground Clarence Park is less than a 15-minute drive away from Arsenal’s London Colney training pitches. It’s easy enough for Oyetunde to get back and forth between the two clubs.
The Arsenal first team face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, and you’d imagine Dowman is the only youth player that has a decent shot at a call-up for such a big game.
With the Arsenal u21s currently on their winter break, it’s easy enough for academy players to be flexible joining in with the senior stars for a training session or two.