Catalin Cirjan hasn’t played for over a year due to a serious knee injury, but the Arsenal youngster finally received some positive news this week.
Cirjan has now returned to light training, with his return to action edging ever closer.
With Arsenal having just two more U23s fixtures remaining this season, both of which take place this month, it seems likely that Cirjan will have to wait until pre-season before he sets foot on the pitch again.
Nonetheless, his return to training is good news, especially given some of the performances that he produced prior to his injury.
A Romanian youth international who joined Arsenal in 2019 following a successful trial, Cirjan made a major impact during his first season with the club as he impressed for the U18s.
The skilful attacking midfielder linked play very well and also showed that he is capable of finding the net himself.
Last season wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Cirjan as his development was affected somewhat by the fact that he flitted between the U18s and the U23s, which meant that he wasn’t truly able to establish himself for the older age group.
In addition, Cirjan was sometimes used deep in midfield, which helped him to improve defensively but didn’t really allow him to make the best use of his creative talents.
Cirjan may be a little wary of having fallen behind while he has been out, with Arsenal having an abundance of creative and attacking prospects on their books.
However, the 19-year-old will be giving his all as he looks to demonstrate that he can still succeed at Arsenal.
If all goes well on the fitness front then Cirjan could possibly be loaned out for the first time either in the summer or in January.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Didn’t even know he got injured for over a year. Do you know what sort of knee injury he got, Jeorge?
I see it as very unlikely, that he will make it through Arsenal. Though he is still young enough to probably make it at other clubs and move through the ranks. Let’s see what happens. I would try to give him a loan to maximize his value.
Based on…?
He was doing very well before the injury, hopefully he gets back to his best and can fulfil his potential. So many good young players coming through the Academy at the moment.
One talented junior gunner has been seriously injured and will be out of action for a long time. There are many case of gunners targetted by the thugs.
Reyes,Eduardo,etc.
I believe in an eye for an eye,etc.If the football authorites wish to stamp out thuggery this what they shd do. The perpetrator of the incident shb be banned as long as the injured player is out of action or banned for at least 15 matches action
Top post Glad to know that I’m not the only one who is heartily and utterly sick and tired of reading about our players being injured unnecessarily and/or from a lack of protection from the match officials that every other club except Arsenal seems to enjoy. The only way forward is for the club to grow a pair and start collating and submitting evidence of this gross prejudice to the powers that be – and take it still further through the courts if needs be. The longer these cunts continue to be given free license to kick an Arsenal player… Read more »
Injuries injuries injuries….🙄
Thank you for these insights into our youth football. We would literally never get to hear about any of this without these snipets.