Cohen Bramall’s move to Arsenal in January 2017 came rather out of the blue and it appears that the left-back will need another significant upturn in fortune if he is to succeed in breaking into the first-team.
Bramall is back at Arsenal following a loan spell at Birmingham City which certainly didn’t go to plan, as demonstrated by the fact that he was restricted to just five appearances in the Championship.
Bramall was instructed to train with the U23 squad on the first day of pre-season training upon his return to London COlney, despite Sead Kolasinac being the only first-team left-back available.
That suggests that Bramall faces a battle to get into Unai Emery’s plans for the upcoming friendly fixtures and his chances of being involved when the season gets underway will undoubtedly be reduced further when Nacho Monreal returns to training.
Bramall featured for the first-team in pre-season last summer, both on tour and in the Emirates Cup, but the early indications are that he won’t be involved this time around.
This is undoubtedly a crucial period for the former non-league defender. He is in the final year of his contract and, at the age of 22, must be named as a senior player in Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League squads if he is to be eligible for those competitions this season.
Even if he was to feature in pre-season and impress, it is difficult to envisage Bramall forcing his way ahead of both Monreal and Kolasinac in the near future.
Playing U23 football wouldn’t be of much benefit to Bramall, and, while he could be involved in the Checkatrade Trophy, the likely scenario is that he will be sent out on loan again.
If both Bramall and Tolaji Bola are sent out on temporary transfer then it would allow another young left-back, Dominic Thompson, who has just signed his first professional contract with the club, to receive a regular run of games at U23 level.
As far as Bramall is concerned, time is running out for him to succeed at Arsenal. The fact that he is at the club in the first place is a story of never giving up on your dreams, but he will be all too aware that the dream could be over very soon.
Still, though, Bramall’s move to Arsenal has been hugely beneficial for his career in that it has given him a greater profile and it should make it much easier for him to attract offers from Championship and League One clubs should he leave the Gunners, which would give him a good chance of carving out a successful career elsewhere.
You would suspect, however, that Bramall isn’t prepared to give up on his chance at Arsenal without a fight. He is, after all, used to overcoming the odds.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
I hope he can step up but it’ll be sensational if he does as he’s taking a huge step.
Completely agree, let’s not forget we picked him up from non-league football. I think our club needs to be more strategic when loaning our youngsters out. They should be loaned to teams that agree to give these players regular game time or at least a chance at that – otherwise I’d rather they dropped a league or went to a less competetive league and got regular football. Otherwise we may as well keep them at arsenal and play u23 football week in week out.
Without trying to be funny why would any club take a player on loan & agree to give that player regular games? Part of the reason for sending players on loan is to give them game time but part is to get them to mature a bit. I’m sure they all get a chance but they should have to earn a place at their loan club, the same as we would expect them to at Arsenal. Pretty much every big manager in England is on record as saying the u23s is not fit for purpose for preparing youngsters for first… Read more »
Maybe he could be like Coquelin. It looked like his time was over, but he returned and surprised us all. Best of luck to him.
I thought Jernade Meade, who played better than most of our more experienced players in that defeat to Olympiakos a few years ago, would go on to at least be a squad player ala Gibbs. As it were, he ended up at Swansea and God knows where after that. Point is, you never know with the kids, but if he was given a game in the Champs league at a younger age than this Bramall lad who’s coming back from a failed loan and is yet to make his senior debut, then its hard to see the latter having a… Read more »
AFC Eskilstuna in Sweden, I believe.
I think Bramalls agent should be trying to secure a permanent move to a League One/championship level or even Scottish top division team perhaps.
Either way to jump from Non League to Arsenal via a factory was a big ask but whatever happens next, he’ll always be able to say ‘IV’E PLAYED FOR THE ARSENAL’
Vardy’s progress was comparable to what you’ve just described.
Except not really. Vardy was playing a couple of levels above where Bramall was…and was the stand out player in that league, scoring loads of goals as they won the title. He was then sold to a Championship club for a million quid. (I’m only pointing out the fee to show that Vardy clearly wasn’t an ‘unknown’ as non league players go that’s a lot of money) Bramall went for 40k to one the biggest clubs in the Premier League. i.e. from a much lower level than Vardy to a much higher level than him. It’s not really comparable. Either… Read more »
Odds are against him and it’s almost certainly unlikely, but as Jorge points out, the dream isn’t truly dead.
Before Arsenal he would’ve probably fallen out of football like 99% of those who enter, with a bit of non-league on the weekend for pocket money.
Now no matter what, he can likely make a decent career for himself as a pro footballer, making thousands, if not tens of thousands per week. That’s far more than the majority of people will ever see in their lifetime.
Heh, “almost certainly unlikely”.
He did have an offer from Sheffield Wednesday before he chose us so thats not exactly dropping out of football
Loan him to Charlton! (That always seems to work)
Funny how every year, some fans will delude themselves into believing some young player because of the romance of it all is the next big thing.
Jenkinson anyone?
Is it me or does he look suspiciously like Aubameyang?
I hope it works out for Bramhall and agree a loan may be his best option. From the interviews I read at the time of his signing, he seems like a thoroughly pleasant chap.
I hope Tolaji Bola will come leaps and bounds to make the left back position is own. The romantic in me is excited to see another academy product break through and compete for a starting berth in Premier League fixtures.
Only left back? What happened to Monreal?
On holidays