Neil Banfield and Steve Bould will take their young playing staff back to training this afternoon, and whilst the usual work of returning the players to match fitness will begin, important decisions over some players futures will also be made inside the next two weeks.
Several of the boys on professional contracts look set to have their deals torn up, as Liam Brady and David Court get ready to bring through a new wave of talents they have been carefully nurturing. The procedure normally see’s many of the Reserve team leaving, who are replaced with Under 18 players, and then Under 16’s fill the gaps in Steve Bould’s side.
This coming term is one of the most exciting to date, not just because of the calibre of home grown talents coming through, but also some of the promising prospects which have been bought in. During the summer months two major transfers have taken place, with Oguzhan Özyakup joining from AZ Alkmaar, and Francis Coquelin from Stade Laval. Özyakup will not complete his switch until his 16th birthday in September, and will joined by Ignasi Miquel a month later, but Coquelin will be available straight away.
Several of the Under 16 boys have been handed scholarship deals, including Oliver Nicholas, Rhema Obed, Jason Banton, Sam Byles, Conor Henderson and others. Full details of who received what will be published in due course.
Building an Academy is a 10 year process, as players arrive at 9 years old they do not leave until 18-19, so the true value of Arsène Wenger’s work will come to fruition over the next two seasons. Another huge plus point for both managers will be the return to action of Henri Lansbury after a six month spell on the sidelines with glandular fever. The first friendly is against Rushden & Diamonds at the end of next month, by then the team will have a very different look to that of the last campaign.
Abu Ogogo, Rene Steer, Jay Simpson, Paul Rodgers, Kerrea Gilbert, James Dunne, and Vincent van Den Berg all lead the list of names who look set to leave during the summer. Mark Randall, Fran Merida, Aaron Ramsey and Nacer Barazite look set to be become first team players, with captain Håvard Nordtveit on the fringes too.
The future is bright at Arsenal.
Article By – J.Sanderson
nice article, looking forward to coquelin and ramsey
HEY PEEPZ!!! OFFICIAL SQUADNUMBERS ARE ANNOUNCED Carlos Vela took the number 12 shirt!! Aaron Ramsey number 16 and Almunia got number 1, Vito Mannone got number 24
8, 14, 18, 23, 28 and 29 are still free hopefully we can add 2 more players…
Barazite should get number 28 and Wilshire number 23 and Nordtveit number 29…
Gibbs to leave? I thought Wenger has spoke about him being promoted to the first team squad ?
Gibbs is not mentioned in the list GK?
What salaries do players get when signing first professional contract
yeah but you didnt put him in the first team squad players
I’m looking forward to seeing the youngsters step up to the first team and seeing how they deal with it. Should be an interesting pre season which kicks off at underhill and ill be there. then its to stuttgart and ill be there to then the emirates cup and ill be there and then the amsterdam tournament and guess what…. I won’t be there :-( lol
nice post JS
Finally, a bit of optimism and a respite from the misery when it comes to AFC. You’d think we finished 4 points away from relegation last season – not the title – judging by some of the opinion on the internet. Keep up the good work. One of the essential blogs.
Obviously the Number 14 shirt is being kept unused so it can be given back to Henry when he returns from his sabbatical in Catalonia ;-)
I hope that Paul Rodgers doesn’t leave – it’d be nice to see an old school friend make it at the Arsenal
whys William Gallas still got the number 10 shirt? I think someone like Nasri or Ashavin (if we get him) deserve the number and Gallas should get Senderos’. Knowing what Willy is like thou, he will probably have a sissy huff and start crying if AW suggested he gives up his number. In my opinion Senderos does not deserve to wear an Arsenal shirt whatsoever. He should be the one looking to be exited from the club along with those mentioned by JS
Im surprised Fran wasnt given a number allocation at the start of this season as i will play alot more this season. JS do you think Fran will start in the carling cup this year? or do you think he will just be on the bench as he was last year? Also do you think any of the other more upcoming players like Lansbury, Randall etc will get starts in the carling cup? rather than the now established players like Denilson and Diaby.
I thought Rodgers might stay another year. Maybe the same with Simpson.
Cant believe rodgers is leaving. Height, pace, versatility. Thought he had potential
rodgers was impressive towards the end of last season in my opinion
JP if you remember, Gallas was originally given the squad no 3 & AFC started selling shirts accordingly. When it got changed to 10, they had to issue refunds (don’t expect too many were sold as he isn’t exactly everybody’s idol).
JS, Ive been trying to tell you for a while now but you never seem to listen haha! Wenger is working part time for Aljazeera in their coverage of Euro 2008 and he won’t be coming back soon (probably until the end of the tournamnet)
I think Jack Wilshere will get a few carling cup games
Cheers Audi point taken. :)
Cheers for the update mate. I’ve been reading the site for a while but never commented and i can’t tell you how much i appreciate the info you give us.
I hope you’re right on the nasri front and i think you will be.
thanks again
Looks like Randall has gone (along with Lehman, Gilbert and Flamini)
http://www.arsenal.com/squad.asp?thisNav=First+Team
I hope not cuz Randall has grown on me, hes a very good passer and very composed on the ball.
I agree Gilbert and Van Den Berg will probably go but im not sure about the others (obviously you probably know more than me) but all the rest have shown quality in my opinion. Dunne and Simpson dont really strike me as Arsenal style players though so i agree they will both probably not make it, although they both look set to have good carears in the sport and have enough quality to make it at lower premiership/championship level elsewhere.
Why do they start training today and have the first game at the end of next month (unless it’s to monitor progress in training).
Also, why did we buy Coquelin AND Ramsey if they’re both DM players, unless Arsene plans to convert Ramsey into a keeper in which case everything would make sense. Kind of shows a lack of faith in Lansbury because from what you’ve written he sounds like a great Flamini type defensive midfielder with a very keen eye for goal.
Jay Simpson this pre season will make or break his career any1 agree ?
“Jay Simpson this pre season will make or break his career any1 agree ?”
Hard to say, Wengers had to talk about him after winning League 1 player of the season but hes been very cagey about his potential future involvement in the club. Wenger may have already made his mind up, he may have felt a need to recomsider, maybe he didnt have an opinion yet, who knows, we’ll just have to wait and find out. From what ive seen of Jay his very much a physical gun-ho sort of player, which doesnt really fit in with the Arsenal philosophy (under wenger anyway), but i have to admit ive seen nothing of him over the last season, only read about his exploits for Millwall, and seeing as hes been playing as a left winger he may have developed othe areas of his game no end.
Is there still a chance that Barazite, merida, randall etc. will be included in the first team squad even though they’re not in the official squad list so far??