Making the breakthrough at Arsenal is undoubtedly a considerably difficult task and even getting into the U23 squad is rather challenging.
Mark McGuinness goes into this season knowing that he must make a major impact for the U18s if he is to earn a professional contract and step up to become part of the second-string.
A tall centre-back who is composed on the ball, McGuinness is a graduate of Arsenal’s Hale End academy and as a schoolboy there were signs that he was very highly rated by the club, especially as he was part of the successful Future Cup squad a couple of years ago.
In pre-season ahead of the 2016/17 campaign he featured for the U23s in a friendly against Bournemouth but since then he has endured some difficulties, with injuries certainly not helping his cause.
Last season McGuinness was restricted to just four games for the U18s in the league and he wasn’t involved at all in the FA Youth Cup.
With the likes of Joseph Olowu, Zech Medley and Daniel Ballard no longer eligible to play for the U18s, it is anticipated that McGuinness could establish himself as a regular for Kwame Ampadu’s team this season and he will need to seize any opportunity that he is afforded.
On the occasions that he did feature last campaign McGuinness wasn’t especially convincing as he was often turned too easily by strikers and lacked mobility.
He is still developing, however, and this season the 17-year-old will hope to demonstrate some signs of improvement and will also aim to feature in the Youth Cup as Ampadu’s team aim to go one better than last season, when they were beaten by Chelsea in the final of the prestigious competition.
McGuinness wasn’t involved as the U18s commenced their campaign with a 4-2 victory against Aston Villa yesterday, but he could be involved away to Brighton & Hove Albion next weekend.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
