Arsenal: Gunners unveil new scholarship class with four standout talents | OneFootball

Top teenage quartet put pen to paper in north London

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Talented teenagers Brando Bailey-Joseph, Maalik Hashi and Marli Salmon are among 13 players to sign scholarship terms with Arsenal.

This crop of youngsters are viewed as exciting prospects as they helped Arsenal’s under-16 side win the Premier League Cup last season for the first time.

Arsenal have a history of producing young players and have had recent success with the emergence of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Callan Hamill is among the 13 players that put pen to paper after Arsenal paid Scottish side St Johnstone a six-figure fee.

Hashi is another player Arsenal have recruited after they signed him from Chelsea in December 2022.

The midfielder has been tipped for a bright future and he has already scored twice for Arsenal’s under-21s during pre-season this summer.

Salmon is also expected to get game time for the under-21 side this season after making his debut while still a schoolboy.

The 16-year-old is a ball-playing centre-back and caught the eye when Arsenal’s under-18s played Manchester United in the FA Youth Cup at Emirates Stadium last season.

“I look up to William Saliba, he’s a good player,” Salmon told Arsenal’s website. “There are a lot of attributes that match up with me so I look up to him.”

At the other end of the pitch, Bailey-Joseph is an exciting forward that has signed scholarship terms. He has been with Arsenal since he was six and represented England at youth level, too.

Bailey-Joseph was named man of the match in December last year, when he scored in the final of the Flamengo Adidas Cup - the largest international youth tournament in Brazil.

Arsenal were winners of the tournament, with 10 of the team that started the final among this year’s scholarship intake.

“We’ve got the best environment for any youngster that is an aspiring footballer because we believe in people, we believe in the strengths of people which makes them better players,” said Arsenal academy manager Per Mertesacker.

“Here, you also have the chance of becoming professionals and that’s their dream, that’s what they’re all aspiring to be, footballers one day.

“We believe with the staff and everyone involved we have the best environment for them to do so.”