Karl Hein is only 19 years old, yet the goalkeeper is already building up experience of senior football on both the club and international stage.
Already a regular at senior level for his country Estonia, Hein headed out on loan for the first time in January as he joined Reading.
There were initially some concerns regarding how much game time Hein would receive at the Royals, but he has quickly managed to jump ahead of Luke Southwood in the pecking order.
Although Hein has kept just one clean sheet in his five Reading appearances so far he has been widely praised for his performances and the manner in which he commands his penalty area.
Hein still has some areas of improvement, most notably his distribution, but his overall development has been very encouraging.
The shot-stopper’s immediate aim will be to try and help Reading avoid relegation from the Championship, but it will be very interesting to see how Arsenal manage his development beyond that.
Hein certainly needs to be playing senior football of some description next season, and that seems unlikely to be available to him at Arsenal with Matt Turner arriving at the club.
Therefore, another loan move could be on the cards for Hein and he will look to demonstrate that he will eventually be capable of competing with Aaron Ramsdale to be the club’s first-choice goalkeeper, although there is still some way to go yet.
The prospect isn’t a stranger to being in the spotlight at a young age – he made his senior debut for his previous club Nomme United when he was just 15 years old. It has been a long wait for Hein to return to playing senior club football but he is certainly enjoying his spell at Reading so far.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Great, hope he progresses. And glad he is 6 foot 4 inches, has the physicality to start with.
Apparently he’s got great vision too.
They say that Hein sight is 20 20.
Maybe we can get Stephan Lichtnsteiner back out of retirement so they can perform the Hein Lich manoeuvre together.
Playing regularly for international and championship clubs at 19. Wow. I’ve never seen anything like it. This guy is clearly a very special talent. Ramsdale better watch his back. A couple more seasons and he might have a real fight on his hands for the number 1 jersey.
Bernd Leno was playing Champions League and finishing top 4 in the Bundesliga, consistently year after year for Leverkusen from the age of 19.
Been I big believer in this guy. So glad he got his chance at Reading. Hope he can come back and win the #2 next season over our new Yankee goalie. Hein looks a special player to me.
Didn’t I hear Turner might be straight out for loan? In which case Hein might have a shot at the first team if Leno moves on.
I’m pretty sure it is the defender we signed from MLS who is off on loan. Turner should be sticking around at number 2. Hopefully Hein impresses enough for Reading to load him again for next season and he gets some stability plus senior football
this can only be great news. Arsenal Academy kicking butt