Arsenal U21s drew 1-1 at home to their Leeds United counterparts last night, with Mehmet Ali fielding a team that contained seven changes from the previous game.
One of those alterations saw Nathan Butler-Oyedeji make his first appearance back in an Arsenal shirt since returning from his loan spell at Cheltenham Town.
The loan move didn’t go entirely to plan, with Butler-Oyedeji still awaiting his first senior goal after he was also unable to find the net during a previous loan spell at Accrington Stanley.
However, it was evident from Butler-Oyedeji’s performance last night that his all-round game has developed considerably as a consequence of playing senior football.
At the age of 21, Butler-Oyedeji is one of the more senior players in the U21 setup and although he didn’t score against Leeds there were some encouraging signs with regards to his overall performance.
The striker led the line well, with his link-up play being of a very high standard. With Khayon Edwards having joined Leyton Orient on loan it seems likely that Butler-Oyedeji will be Arsenal’s first-choice striker at U21 level for the remainder of the campaign.
It remains to be seen what lies in store for Butler-Oyedeji beyond this season but for the rest of 2023-24 he will be looking to help the younger players in the U21 squad and will also be aiming to continue making progress himself.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Butler “Akpom” Oyedeji, it looks.