Meet the seven new Arsenal scholars for 2013/14

The current campaign is not yet officially finished, but attention is already being turned towards the 2013/14 season, when Arsenal will welcome a new batch of first-year scholars to London Colney. As with each intake, there is a mixture of players recruited from elsewhere and those who have progressed through the club’s Hale End system, although it is worth noting that this list is not yet finalised, with players free to discuss deals with other clubs until their contracts commence on July 1st. Striker Jordan Brown, for instance, who was offered a scholarship by Arsenal, has instead opted to join West Ham, whilst the club may yet add to their collection of talents, with Jose Pleguezuelo Selva reportedly set to join from Barcelona.

GEDION ZELALEM

He may be bottom of the list alphabetically, but the Germany U16 international is right at the top in terms of the impact that he has already made during his brief Arsenal career. Spotted playing for Olney Rangers in the United States, the Gunners were first alerted to the midfielder’s talents by scout Danny Karbassiyoon, and, having now turned 16, Gedion is already a regular for the club at U21 level, having also trained with the first-team on several occasions. For all his potential, however, the youngster still needs to be given time and has not yet demonstrated an ability to control second-string games with his sublime passing. That said, a senior debut, and possibly further outings, appears to be on the cards in the Capital One Cup next campaign.

RYAN HUDDART

A tall goalkeeper who possesses an excellent command of his penalty area, Ryan has featured for England U16s this season and, after being named as a substitute on several occasions, finally made his debut for Arsenal at U18 level. A good shot-stopper, he is likely to be second choice at that level next season behind Josh Vickers, but will be hopeful of featuring in other competitions too, having made the bench for the FA Youth Cup defeat to Everton earlier in the campaign.

AINSLEY MAITLAND-NILES

Surprisingly overlooked by England at youth level, fleet-footed winger Ainsley has made perhaps the biggest impact of all the club’s homegrown schoolboys this campaign. His highlight was undoubtedly being included in the squad for the latter stages of the NextGen Series, which included outings against Chelsea and Sporting Lisbon in the semi-final and 3rd place play-off respectively. On the domestic front, Ainsley has thrived, demonstrating his ability to beat defenders with ease and has mustered two goals in 11 outings at U18 level, figures he will be looking to add to next campaign.

TAFARI MOORE

Like Huddart, Moore is a regular presence in the England U16 squad, but he has also been impressive for Arsenal during 2012/13, fending off competition from Aaron Barnes to earn a scholarship with a guarantee of a one-year professional contract. Usually deployed at right-back, he has also filled in in the opposite full-back berth on occasion and, whilst still somewhat raw, possesses an astute reading of the game and is a regular threat on the counter-attack. Having already amassed 10 appearances at U18 level, he could go on to establish himself as the club’s regular right-back in that age group.

ELLIOT WRIGHT

Another England youth international, centre-back Elliot faced an agonising wait to discover his fate as the Arsenal coaching staff deliberated over whether to offer him a scholarship deal. They eventually opted to do so, no doubt persuaded by his consistent performances at schoolboy level. Having made three U18 outings thus far, he will be looking to feature regularly at that level next season.

STEFAN O’CONNOR

Another player whose deal was not confirmed until relatively recently, Stefan captained the U16s at the recent Ferroli Cup in Italy off the back of some consistent performances for the U18s. Despite being prone to the occasional lapse in concentration and in requirement of work on his positioning, Stefan is nonetheless an intriguing prospect for the future given his considerable strength and ability to play the ball out from the back.

RENNY SMITH

A tough-tackling, no-nonsense midfielder who was picked up by the Gunners following his release from Chelsea, Renny has demonstrated early promise during his short time with the club. A good distributor of the ball, he has already featured five times for the U18s and will strive to become a mainstay at that level next season.

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Jeorge Bird is the author of  www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com  Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird