Arsenal U21s will commence their pre-season schedule on Saturday when they take on Boreham Wood in their annual friendly.
It will be intriguing to see who lines up in midfield for the young Gunners, with coach Mehmet Ali having a wealth of options at his disposal in that department.
Towards the end of last season Ali appeared to settle on a midfield trio of Jack Henry-Francis, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, which provided a useful blend of attacking and defensive qualities.
Jimi Gower and Ismail Oulad M’Hand are also still available, while Harrison Dudziak is stepping up to the U21s on a full-time basis after captaining the U18s last season. Michal Rosiak, meanwhile, is also no longer eligible for the U18s and will be aiming to fully establish himself as a key player for the U21s.
There are also some of the returning loanees to consider. Charlie Patino is back from his spell at Swansea City and it appears highly unlikely that he will still be playing for the U21s when the transfer window closes at the end of August, with a permanent or loan move likely to occur.
However, it is possible that Patino could still feature for the U21s prior to that, while Salah-Eddine also falls into that category after he returned to the club following his loan spell at Den Bosch.
Ali will be attempting to manage the minutes of the various players at his disposal, especially as Arsenal U21s have another game to look forward to on Tuesday when they face Enfield Town.
Henry-Francis is a candidate for a loan spell to gain valuable experience, while it remains to be seen what will happen with Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly, who could have a part to play for the first-team during pre-season.
That in turn would lead to more chances at U21 level for the likes of Rosiak, Gower, Ismail Oulad M’Hand and Dudziak.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Would love to see MLS and Nwaneri get a good pre-season and be given some more opportunities this season with the first team, it feels like we’ve not been giving out the minutes so readily of late, I know thats because Mikel is competing with the likes of City etc, but if we’re already winning a game, and they are good enough to get it, lets give these lads minutes, otherwise they’ll no doubt look elsewhere.
Agreed there were times this season where we were cruising and i was furious to see he did not sub off the likes of saka earlier or other important players to give to others. We need to give rest to some players and minutes to others. Wenger used to attract young talents because he gave chances to young blood, Arteta is not doing enough.
The idea of pathway for the academy resources seems to be a deal maker or breaker. They want their road map with milestones into the 1st team pre determined. However we also know statistically on 3 out of 100 academy make it to 1st team. The attrition is brutal. Arsenal to get to elite levels will have to filter without feelings. Ruewell and ACD are examples of being part of the 97%. Between Nwaneri MLS Max and Chido one will at least break through.
That’s a hell of a midfield