Three Arsenal Academy stars that were very impressive against Man United last night | OneFootball

17-year-old academy projects give Arteta something to think about

Mikel Arteta and his squad walked away winners against Manchester United in our second game of the USA pre-season tour. After drawing against Bournemouth and then winning in penalties, Arsenal went on to take a 2-1 win over rivals Manchester United in Los Angeles last night and once again, the younger lads in the squad have given Arteta something to think about after another quality performance from our academy projects.

In the game against Bournemouth, 17-year-old Ayden Heaven got to play 63 minutes of first team football at centre back alongside Jurrien Timber and had an extremely impressive game. Seeing quite a lot of the ball and making crucial challenges that caught my eye. Obviously, Arsenal’s defence is loaded at the moment and breaking into the first team seems almost impossible from a defender’s perspective, but it does give us another option in squad depth and for a young man to hold his own, the way he did, was impressive and could be one for the future.

Ethan Nwaneri is a name that many would have heard of before with his great form for Arsenal’s under-21s team and for England’s U17s side. He has been in incredible form and always seems to find the back of the net. Having a solid game against Bournemouth and then getting an assist against Manchester United and proving that he’s more than good enough to have a shot in the first team. He may be young, be he certainly knows how to play football and could be a great option for our midfield this season, giving Arteta more to think about and more options for squad depth.

>Arteta said about Ethan Nwaneri’s display:It’s always in the hands of the players, so show what you can do. Show that ambition, that determination, that quality and things will happen naturally. Tomorrow he’s going to train with us again and if he continues to play like that he’s going to play some minutes on Wednesday for sure.

And finally, Lewis Myles-Skelly, another 17-year-old who has been in great form for the U21s, he’s another name that seems to always be around the goals and assists and managed to assist Martinelli’s winning goal again Manchester United. He only played 27 minutes but completed 100% of his passes and set up the winning goal. For a young lad, he looked confident and eager to play, he didn’t shy away from the game and looked natural while on the ball.

This gives Arteta a bit of a headache as they continue to show they look ready, pre-season is always a great chance for younger talents to show their worth and take a shot at being in the first team, but because Arsenal have such a good group of players, it can be hard to break through, but with a busy preseason ahead, with Liverpool vs Arsenal on Thursday before flying back for the Emirates Cup next weekend. There will be plenty of “you never knows”, we could see a few of these talents get game time this season, or get the chance to go on loan and improve their games.

Either way, they’ve been exciting and a joy to watch so far.