Ebecilio completes move as Arsenal U21s prepare for final game of the season

The season is almost over but the news concerning Arsenal’s youngsters continues to flood in, with it being revealed this week that two further players are poised to join the exodus of U21 players departing the club. Defender Daniel Boateng and striker Nigel Neita are both likely to be let go at the end of the campaign, and they will join a growing list of players who are leaving, which includes midfielder Kyle Ebecilio, who yesterday completed his move to FC Twente.

Ebecilio, a Netherlands youth international who joined Arsenal from Feyenoord in 2010, has struggled with injuries during his time in North London and has not come close to a first-team breakthrough. Martin Angha, Craig Eastmond, Conor Henderson Sanchez Watt, James Shea, Josh Rees, Samir Bihmoutine and Zach Fagan are also likely to depart as the Gunners seek to promote many of their current first-year scholars into the second-string set-up in time for next season.

Those first-years have been progressing well of late, with Arsenal U18s recording a hard-earned 1-0 victory away to Middlesbrough last weekend, courtesy of a strike from Glen Kamara, the Finland youth international. Despite largely struggling for form since Christmas, Carl Laraman’s side still have a chance of reaching the end-of-season play-offs, but that would require a victory in their final regulation game away to Newcastle United tomorrow afternoon.

Before that, Arsenal’s U21s will complete their campaign this evening when they take on Liverpool at Underhill. The play-offs are long out of sight for Steve Gatting’s side, but they will be looking to build upon Tuesday’s late win over Wolves, when Hector Bellerin, as he did against Manchester United earlier in the campaign, struck a dramatic late winner to secure a 2-1 victory.

With the two games in such close proximity, Gatting took the opportunity to start the likes of Serge Gnabry, Kristoffer Olsson, Gedion Zelalem and Thomas Eisfeld, usually mainstays of the side, on the bench, and the quartet are poised to be restored to the starting line-up this evening.

As things stand this will be Arsenal’s final game at Underhill, the stadium that has hosted the club’s second-string fixtures since 2001, but there has been some speculation that the club will consider buying the ground to continue using the facility to stage their U21 and FA Youth Cup fixtures.

Tonight, though, they will be focused upon ending the season on a high, with the chance also arising to exact some revenge on the Liverpool side that beat them 3-2 in an enthralling encounter at Anfield last month. Following this game, there is an end-of-season friendly away to Wimborne Town next week before the youngsters head on their holidays.

To judge from all the indications thus far, many of them will not be coming back and the second-string set-up will have a very different look to it next season.

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Jeorge Bird is the author of  www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com  Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird