Ogungbo rewarded with Republic of Ireland U20 callup

Arsenal youngster Mazeed Ogungbo has received his first callup to the Republic of Ireland U20 squad.

The defender has previously represented Ireland at U19 level and has been rewarded for the progress that he has made at club level.

This season Ogungbo has been a regular for Arsenal U23s, and has often been deployed as the left sided centre-back in a back three.

Ogungbo is also capable of playing at left-back and often provides a significant attacking threat when deployed in that position.

Mikel Arteta has been monitoring Ogungbo’s development and selected him to travel with the first-team squad for the training camp in Dubai recently. He was also in contention to make the bench for the Premier League game at home to Brentford.

Ogungbo has been a consistent performer this season. He recently returned from a short spell out injured and will be looking to finish the campaign strongly.

After joining Arsenal in 2015, Ogungbo featured for the U18s while he was still a schoolboy and progressed to scholarship terms in 2019 before turning professional last summer.

A no-nonsense defender, he is strong physically and is an impressive reader of the game.

Next season Ogungbo could remain with the U23s for the first half of the season but he could subsequently be sent out on loan for the first time.

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