Arsenal youngster had trial at Liverpool before Gunners move

Arsenal youngster Ceadach O’Neill had a trial at Liverpool prior to joining the Gunners, according to a report.

Arsenal youth player Ceadach O’Neill has had a positive spell with the club since joining from Linfield FC, making over 50 appearances across the u18s, u19s, and u21s and scoring 20 goals, assisting another seven.

The 18-year-old got a chance with the first team in pre-season, and he performed well, only dropping out when the senior players returned from their extended summer holidays.

A future in senior football is inevitable for the youngster, but his career almost went in a very different direction a couple of years ago.

Arsenal completed the signing of O’Neill in July 2024, but Graham Luney reports for the Belfast Telegraph that the player was also on the radar of Southampton and Liverpool, spending time on trial with both clubs.

O’Neill also spent time on an Arsenal trial, featuring at the Flamengo Adidas Cup in Brazil. He then had a decision to make on his next club, ultimately signing a scholarship contract with the Gunners.

O’Neill has since put pen to paper on professional terms, which should last until the end of the 2026/27 campaign. That means his deal will need renegotiating this season, and Arsenal should be keen to keep him.

Speaking about O’Neill, former Arsenal youngster Jordan McEneff revealed that he had a conversation with the player before his transfer.

“Ceadach is from the Derry area and I was chat­ting to him just before he moved away,” McEneff said. “He actu­ally moved into the same digs I was in. He seems to have settled in well with that fam­ily and he is fly­ing over there.

“He is def­in­itely in a good place. He has fea­tured in pre-sea­son and there could be a loan. He is only young and devel­op­ing all the time.”

A loan would be another positive step for the Arsenal prospect, but perhaps he’ll need to sort out his contract situation first.

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