Arsenal youngster set to miss pre-season start after call-up | OneFootball

Brooke Norton-Cuffy will almost certainly miss the start of pre-season with Arsenal after receiving an England call-up for the u19 Euros.

The England u19 head coach Ian Foster confirmed his squad for the upcoming u19 Euros on Friday, with Arsenal’s Brooke Norton-Cuffy making the cut.

Though it’s excellent news that Norton-Cuffy has been called up above his age group, that does mean it’s expected that he won’t be involved in the early stages of pre-season with Arsenal.

The first Arsenal players return to London Colney on June 27th, and the England u19s’ fixtures in the group stage are against Austria on Sunday (June 19th), Serbia on Wednesday (June 22nd), and Israel on Saturday (June 25th).

Even if England get eliminated immediately, that would leave a very tight turnaround for Norton-Cuffy.

But England will hope to make it through to the knockout stages, with the semi-finals on June 28th and the final on July 1st.

The positive side is that Norton-Cuffy has already had some time off on holiday over the last few weeks. He shouldn’t need another break after the Euros, so once the squad return from Slovakia he can link up with Arsenal at that point.

Though Arsenal begin training on June 27th, they don’t play a friendly match until July 8th, so Norton-Cuffy may not miss much.

Arsenal were reportedly planning to give the young right-back a chance in the summer friendlies, as they look to extend his contract following his encouraging loan at Lincoln City.