Arsenal youth loanee Daniel Oyetunde made his senior debut for St. Albans City FC on Saturday, the day after his transfer was confirmed.
On Friday, Arsenal 18-year-old centre-forward Daniel Oyetunde joined St. Albans City on a youth loan initially running to the end of November 2025. Just a day later, the youngster was making his first-team debut.
It definitely wasn’t the easiest set of circumstances for Oyetunde’s debut. St. Albans usually operate in the Isthmian League, the seventh tier of English football, but they were up against third-tier League One side Burton Albion in an FA Cup clash.
To play against a team four leagues above yours is never easy, and St. Albans were already 3-0 down by the time Oyetunde came on with half an hour to go.
The match ultimately finished 6-0, though the suggestion was that the St. Albans players and interim manager felt the scoreline was harsh after a battling performance from their team. Three goals in the final 10 minutes certainly made things look a lot worse.
All the same, St. Albans interim boss Michael Bostwick seemed pleased with how Oyetunde and fellow new signing Adrian Mariappa have settled so far.
“It’s massive, all the signings, Adrian [Mariappa] and [Daniel Oyetunde] coming in and they’ve fitted straight in with the group,” Bostwick said after the game. “It’s been seamless so hopefully that continues and we can get fitter and stronger together and build on it.”
With the FA Cup gone, the focus now turns to the other competitions, particularly the league.
St. Albans’ next three games are league fixtures, as they look to pull themselves out of mid-table and towards the play-off spots.
The team have seven matches scheduled in all competitions between now and the end of November, so Oyetunde should get a few more chances to prove himself before his initial loan spell ends.