Arsenal have confirmed their first team squad for the group stages of this season’s Champions League campaign after submitting the list to Uefa a week ago.
With many fringe players leaving the club in recent weeks, there are no major surprises although Portuguese full-backs young and old, Lino Sousa and Cedric Soares, have been included in place of the injured Jurrien Timber.
The Holland international is expected to miss the entire season while he recovers from ACL surgery so you can understand why he didn’t make the cut.
While Sousa, an England youth international who was born in Lisbon, is only 18 years old, the fact he only joined the Gunners in 2022 meant he had to be included on the A-List.
Goalkeeper James Hillson also makes the A-List even though he’s behind Karl Hein in the pecking order. The Estonian, who is younger, will qualify for the B List – submitted the night before each match – because he still counts as under-21 for the year and has been on the club’s books for more than two years.
There are no limits on the number of B List players that can be part of a matchday squad so exciting youngsters like Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Reuell Walters will be hoping they get call-ups as the group stages progress.
Arsenal kick off their first Champions League campaign in six years with a home tie against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday 20 September.
If necessary, Arsenal can add three new names to the 25-man A-List in February.
A-List
Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, David Raya, James Hillson
Defenders: Cedric, Lino Sousa, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Gabriel, Jakub Kiwior, William Saliba
Midfielders: Mohamed Elneny, Jorginho, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe
Forwards: Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus
Sousa!! This lad has talent, hopefully he can make a good cameo or two when we’ve won the group with games to spare 🙂
With Sousa in our team we will be marching to victory
Upon which his song shall be chanted to the tune of Blogs’ favourite Phil Collins number… “he’s so good he can defend
Sou-sa-sudio!
He can defeeeeeeend
Sou-sa-sudio!”
(Please don’t ban me blogs)
Haha excellent. If I was a music man I’d make that song and try to get it on Arsecast.
I am in fact a music person…but I think Blogs would literally rather set himself on fire before allowing anything remotely related to Phil Collins on Arsecast
Love it!
Blogs dislike for Phil Collins is now permanently etched into the www algorithms. So much so that when Genesis went on tour I was being served up adds all over the site. 😜
Cédric! The motherfucker did it! From being expected to leave, he somehow returned!
I guess Timber’s injury is sort of like a Debauchy/Bellerin moment
Tbh Cedric is not a bad footballer. Doesn’t fit our system, not good enough for our new level, but in emergency still an ok option.
Cedric’s probably one of the best footballers in the squad, he’s just not a very good athlete.
As much as I wish for all Arsenal players to be a success, the boat has sailed for Cedric. He is quite lucky to be at Arsenal, and won the lottery with Timber’s injury.
Lets hope he is better than his previous outings, if given a chance
NO AMOUNT OF DISLIKES WILL CHANGE MY MIND ON THIS, TELL ME WHERE I’M WRONG COWARDS
He does have a flawless first touch I’ll grant you that
It’s mainly everything else that let’s him down
Hehe yeah this is what I meant tbh. Same as Nacho Monreal – his technique was impeccable, it just takes more than technique to stop being a full-back (and ofc Nacho was way better than Cedric in other areas too). I want to say Cedric’s something like a poor man’s Marcelo, except in this instance realistically he’s more like a man who’s in several hundred thousand pounds worth of credit card debt’s Marcelo.
He does have the same ability to create time and space on the ball as, for example, Ben White (or maybe he does but doesn’t use it often). I’ve seen him caught out of position a few times but to be fair I can say the same about Zynch.
Meant to say ‘doesnt ‘
You never know. Maybe Kai will start banging in the headers with Cedric’s 548,327 crosses per match….
Feels like a new signing!
Feels more like a new photo opportunity…
Queue: group hug 🤗
This is one I feel even Wenger would call “like an old signing” (LAOS™️)
do you have a problem with the person cédric? did i miss something?
discuss the player…
Should of kept Pepe, dribbling machine.
Keep him and drill some final ball into him
An expensive one-trick-ponynot good for business
Cedric finds a way
Cedric the Entertainer survives!
Mo Elneny! Truly a survivor and a gentleman. And a pretty decent footballer. Good to see his name.
Cedric still at the club… it’s not funny anymore
I am just waiting for Harvertz to score the winning goal when we get to the final.
So, when is Elneny due back, then?
He’s also on the PL list, but so is Timber