Karl Hein’s Arsenal debut didn’t go to plan against Brighton & Hove Albion, but the 20-year-old could soon find himself back in action for Mikel Arteta’s side.
With Aaron Ramsdale and Matt Turner both away at the World Cup, Hein is set to be Arsenal’s only senior goalkeeper available for their friendlies during the international period, with the Gunners set to face teams such as Lyon and AC Milan.
Hein has prior experience of first-team football – he played five senior games for his previous club Nomme United, has 16 caps for Estonia and caught the eye during a loan spell at Reading last season that was disrupted by injury.
Despite the difficulties that he endured against Brighton, Hein retains the backing of Arteta and these friendlies could be an opportunity for him to showcase his talent.
What will happen with Hein in the long term is rather less clear. It is common for young goalkeepers to be loaned out on numerous occasions and it’s possible that Hein could go down that route.
One problem that Hein has faced this season has been a lack of consistent game time at any level due to the fact that he has only been available intermittently to play for the U21s due to him training and travelling for the first-team.
Perhaps spending the entirety of next season on loan and playing regularly will be productive for Hein.
In the long term he faces a battle with Arthur Okonkwo, who has received a lot of praise this season for his performances on loan at Crewe Alexandra.
Whenever he gets an opportunity, Hein will be determined to show his ability, although it is clear that he needs to be playing regularly in order to make significant progress.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Luckily, they’re only friendlies as his competitive debut was, well, a bit of a disaster really. Anyway, he certainly deserves a second chance as he hasn’t had game time as the article mentions but it’s vital for him to do (much) better when he does get it, or I suspect his stay with Arsenal won’t be too long.
He has played 16 times for his country so he is not totally inexperienced. Possibly he was nervous with his first Arsenal match so hopefully he will get other chances.
True, that’s why he needs another chance – we shouldn’t write him off on the strength of his showing against Brighton. However, we’ve not had a lot of luck with reserve keepers recently and with Arteta’s focus on quality performances from everyone, it’s down to him to show what he can really do when he gets another go.
Well Martinez was a reserve keeper and we wouldn’t have won the FA Cup if he wasn’t in goal instead of Leno.
Okonkwo has been looking good on loan and I’d expect him to challenge turner next season