Arsenal have awarded professional contracts to six of last years scholars ahead of the new season, with Henri Lansbury, Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Kyle Bartley, Thomas Cruise, Sanchez Watt and Rhys Murphy, all penning two year deals.
The new contracts mean the youngsters will now be full time Arsenal players, and will end all forms of education to concentrate on football. Five of last years scholars are yet to hear if they will be going professional, with summer signings Anton Blackwood and Jonas Rasmussen added to home grown boys James Shea, Craig Eastmond, and Luke Ayling left sweating on their futures.
Questions have been asked about the fitness of Lansbury and Bartley, who missed large chunks of last year with long term injuries. However, both are now fully fit and ready to hit the ground running ahead of the new campaign.
All of the boys putting pen-to-paper are English, and all but one have been trained at the club since they were 9 years old. Further proof if any were needed that Liam Brady and his team are working hard to bring through British talents, and not only that, but top British talents.
All six of the players have represented England at youth level, and will now focus on pushing for a Carling Cup place during pre-season. Arsène Wenger is expected to call on one or two of the youngsters over to the first team during training next week, and many Gooners will be hoping to get a peek of the newly signed pros during the Barnet fixture on July 19th.
Article By – J.Sanderson
yes some god news finally
Looking forward to seeing some loyal English talent in the Arsenal ranks.
JS; Those ones named as not having contracts yet, are they the only ones left hanging?
The ones who have got the deals seem to me to be the ones I hoped would do it.
Great!
I had high hopes on Rhys Murphy a few years ago but he seems to have dwindled, I think JE-Thomas will fall short but Lansbury has every hope if he can have a full season next year.
Haven’t seen a lot of Watt and Cruise and what I have seen of Bartley, he looks pretty good.
We’ll see, but realistically, I think Lansbury has the best hope of making the permanent step up over the next few years.
I’ve always liked the look of Ryhs Murphy, much more of a threat than Sunu in my opinion.
JS, last year Gibbs got to play in the Inter Milan match, do you see any of these boys getting involved in Emirates Cup or maybe Merida or Barazite?
The Bisch – yep the stars of the squad have been awarded them early, so they can be involved over pre-season. Last year was the first year where we had all of our scholars going pro, and the boys who missed out today, could be given them in September.
If they do not get them by September, you can assume they will be released.
I am glad that Henri Lansbury has signed a professional contract because as a football player he is class IMO
TopGunPires – Merida & Gibbs will not be playing this year, as they are at the Under 19 Euro’s which starts on July 14th, and runs through to 26th.
But yes some youngsters will no doubt get a chance to play.
Jay Thomas used to attend the same school as me.I’m really pleased he has signed a pro contract with arsenal,I hope he can step up and be a class player for Arsene Wenger’s first team in the future.
Hope Lansbury keeps his head down, works hard, keeps his nose clean (!) and bedomes a 1st team regular.
pedantic I know, but 2 of these joined from other academies – Bartly last year from Bolton, and Murphy from Wimbledon when they moved to MK
Jau Thomas is my favouret kid so im delighted hes got 1, Landsbury was always guna get one but thats cuz hes developed so well, lets just hope next season he can stay injury free and take the next step, as for the rest, they are all solid players, Watt is incredibly skillful on the ball, but none have really blown me away yet. Not that im saying they’re not good enough, far from it, all will make it in the game and all can make it at Arsenal if they work hard and improve, but Emmanuel-thomas and Landsbury stand out as young footballers ahead of their expected development, naturaly talented with a ball.
can the six make platini’s equation? while we support the idea of catching them young we should not bring in mediocre to receive 5 – 0 in the carling cup this season
gud 2 c sum ENGLISH TALENT finally coming thru…………by da way, n e news on Nasri yet
gibbs is likely to be loaned to crystal plalce according to a source close to the club.
jay thomas is like diaby, great control and totally one footed.
The Bisch – keeps his nose clean?!! Explain yourself…
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“jay thomas is like diaby, great control and totally one footed.”
True but what a foot. I love the way he dribbles aswell, he dances round defenders.
Dear God… anyone but Jay Thomas. Poor mans Diaby and I hate Diaby enough as it is.
Mousin;
Have no idea what you are referring to fella!hahaha!
he means dont catch a virus or cold or summin like he had before like the kissing disease.
glandular fever
i think jay thomas is left footed
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1365673.ece
above is the link to close-up and personal pics of our Eduardo. He looks grrrrreeeat, his have wife too. Enjoy it
thnx arab soul :D I hope he can go back to his best form…
great Article , Jay any word on Jay Simpson , I really don’t want him released.He would be good for us since Adebayor will probably be heading to other teams.
http://soccerfanbase.com
Spot on nice to see Lansbury signing terms with the club. I heard a dirty rumour a while ago that his agent was trying to fix him up with a move to the Chavs at the Bridge.
So its 1 July and still no Nasri… what a surprise. Pissing load of bollocks this has been. He better be dynamite if he ever arrives otherwise I will boo him because our time could have been better spent chasing someone better who actually wants to be a Gunner and isn’t just looking for a steady pay cheque!
J, i thought you said nasri was signing today. Wrong again! Young guns was my favourite site before all the nasri speculation because you didnt write any bullshit. Stick to the youth team and reserves. You do that well
It’s July 1st. You know what that means. Oh yeah. That’s right. You know it. Ah-ha.
Tomorrow is July 2nd.
That comment was made by Arseblogger. I have mad respect for this guy. Not once can I remember this guy saying Nasri will sign today, tomorrow, the day after that etc. Whenever he signs, he signs damn it. My advice to JS and the guys over at arsenalinsider id to just stop talkinh about it all together. When you say your sources tell you he signs on July 1st or 2nd or whenever and it doesn’t happen that you lose lots of credability.
what a nice guy, TONY , you are top class gooner man
anyway i see trouble a brewing with lansbury just seems starry eyed and even though becks was as well he always works extremely hard to maintain his gift i dunno if lansbury has that sustainable go out and party mon tues wed thur fri and set up a couple sat afternoon knda thing
his potential is their to be great but is the focus he is definitely risky
I heard a while back that Arsene had ear-marked some youth players for the first team. Guys like Lansbury, Wilshere, and a few others were named as participating in the first team this season. However, I’ve seen that none of them have gotten squad numbers. Does that mean they actually won’t play first team or will they just wear random shirt numbers when they do?
Samir Nasri will be confirmed as an Arsenal FC Player on July 2nd
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myfreesport.fr%2Fsports%2Ffootball%2Fligue1%2F0%2Fnasri-signera-arsenal-2-juillet-48135.html&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=fr&tl=en
I live nasri has Marseille and has London will be present tomorrow if you want information ask I
Lansbury has defitnetly got the talent and ability to be in with a good chance of breaking through, although, and belive me I am telling the 100% truth and not just trying to cause trouble, he does have a bit of a ego and “Big time” attiude. From a young age even at primary school, he always though he was better than everyone else and looked down his nose at everyone because he played for Arsenal. Now he’s a regular at Faces nightclub in Essex and also other bars/clubs in North London, where he doesen’t hold back when drinking. Needs to get his head right and understand what a priviledged position he is in, and leave the partying and drinking to other people.
Sorry at 17 years of age was Cesc Fabregas living in the same area as Lansbury? He managed without the partying lifestyle? Why can’t people like Lansbury
The court ruled that Ben Arfa is officially a Marseille player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ben arfa is marseillais!!!! nasri comes tomorrow!!!!!
Yeah! I was never so happy! :DDDD
Well I got RS to keep me busy till the deal happens :D
Admittedly though Lansbury did have Glandular Fever when the news of his partying broke. The thing with GF is that you have good days and bad days; some days you feel absolutely fine other days it just wipes you out. With that in mind it isn’t easy to train at such a high tempo and with any kind of intensity so hopefully now that he is clear of it, Lansbury will focus on his football and try to make up for the year he has lost. I just hope he doesn’t turn out to be another Bentley; I could care less if he has a superiority complex so long as his heart belongs to Arsenal and he has the talent and skills to back it up, I’ll cheer for him anyday!
Hey, great article J, and good news about ben-arfa :)
Can anyone paste a link showing the Ben Arfa news – OM site takes ages to load for me
http://www.laprovence.com/articles/2008/07/01/502815-Region-en-direct-Ben-Arfa-est-Olympien.php
Cheers, can’t wait to 2morow XDXDXD
well said about Lansbury Charlie. I fully agree, I want players that love Arsenal and burn for the team and the fans on the pitch!
Jean lu pooty…not sure why you’re slagging my comment. Like derrick says, JS and other people lose credibility when they’re wrong about this stuff. Better off not to speculate and report fact. And i was complimenting the site. Its called Young Guns and i said he does it well. Whats the problem. Do you want me on here kissing ass for every article JS writes like some people on here?
Its called Young Guns, and if you read about the site properly, they report on any link with player Under 21…So you need to get your stuff right mate. WHy do you think he reports on Vela and Ramsey? Not cause they are reserve/youth players…because they are UNDER 21
^ That was in response to Tony btw.
tomorrow and tomorrow since 25/5
TheGame why don’t you let Wenger and co worry about Lansburys attitude, or if your worried that they don’t know about his behaviour why don’t you get in contact with Arsenal and let them know, instead of putting rumours here. Otherwise whether you mean to or not it is essentially shit stirring.
If Nasri signs tomorrow or when ever, every1 whos been slating J, ON HIS OWN BLOG, can eat some humble pie and start wiping the egg off their face.
Great news from a great blog written by a top geeza.
Even if he doesnt sign, its not only J thats not got it right, Sky and BBC announced he’d sign aswell, billion pound media empires, enough said, stop the abuse.
TheGame, how do u know Landsbury has no focuz? If ur guna say stuff like that then back it up with evidance and explain urself.
focus*
Sry, just realised that with the post from Jason it looks like im gettin on ur case, i mean explain ur self as in explain how u actually know this… I meen do u know him or summin?
Great news on Nasri! Can’t wait to see the interplay between Cesc and Nasri next season!
It’s also great to hear about the new pro contracts. We have just seen Spain win Euro2008 playing an exciting brand of technique based football, something which, frankly, England are not currently capable of. Of course we know most in the press point to us amongst others with all our foreign players as the reason for the state of the national team. However, what Wenger and Brady are doing at the club is very significant. This group of players are the first generation who have been at the club since 9 years, Wenger realised it was vital to give our players a good grounding in technique from the earliest of ages. In the future, I believe, rather than being a considered an enemy of the three lions, Wenger will be seen as a saviour.
Also, JS, what’s your opinion on which of the players who have not yet been given pro contracts, will get them?
You can find Lansbury on Facebook. Judging by all his night out photos and all his comments to and from friends, it’s pretty clear he ‘larges it’ quite a lot. I’m not sure about him to be honest. See for yourself.
These young players are no good at all, we might as well just sign top class players who can actually win us something for a change.
“These young players” are for the future me. If you don’t want to talk about them, then bugger off to a different blog :)
I mentioned them so i obviously want to talk about them. be quiet joshwaaa no one asked for you to poke that nose in of yours. :p
Me, you clearly don’t know too much about Arsenal. Wenger has publicly stated that the current crop of Arsenal players coming through the Youth Team are some of the best he has ever had to come from an Academy. Perhaps you should spend some more time on this site reading the player profiles for the likes of Lansbury, Merida, Barazite, Nordtveit and Wilshire in order to determine for yourself just how good these kids are.
The future is bright, the future is Arsenal.
Its interesting Rhys Murphy got professional terms, because ive never felt Wenger has liked him.
Intersting to know how much imput Arsene Wenger had in these choices. Did Liam Brady and David Court decid to give these players pro terms, rather than the boss? who knows.
J is Nasri being announced tomorrow for sure? he has apparently said he will be, but you never know with this transfer. its annoying me now.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article4252288.ece this is quite intresting from everything that has been said in the news of the world
i mean from all the lies form the news of my ass
“Intersting to know how much imput Arsene Wenger had in these choices. Did Liam Brady and David Court decid to give these players pro terms, rather than the boss? who knows.”
Id imagine Wenger had moe of a say in who would get it than who wouldent, i meen if decided not to give pro terms to one of the players Wenger has his eye on atm then Wenger mite put his foot in, however if theres players Wenger secretly doesnt see making it that Bould and Brady rate and want to offer pro-terms Wenger would probably accept that descision as he does not train the side nor watch all their games (although come to think of it im sure i read somewhere he did watch all reserve and U18 games on tape), and would accept their judgement.
Thats only my guess, its probably all wrong (as an Arsenal fan u have to get used to second guessing, all the way from potential line-ups for games to who will leave and come in the summer).
I think people should get off Henri Lanbrys back because there is no evidence that the guy is a piss head who goes clubing all the time, because you do not get to were he is by constantly burning the candle at both ends and also i doubt Arsenal would offer him a deal if they thought he was throwing his career away IMO
WHAT ABOUT WILSHERE???
Jamie you’re an ace blogger. I’m sure you remember me from the old forum. Anyways, ignore the gay ass tossers who slate you. You are a magnificent journalist and I respect your skills considering we are of similar age.
For all you pissed off middle-age men who feel big by slating someone behind a computer screen-fuck off and get laid.
According the french Eurosport the OM will present officialy Ben Arfa at 12:45, today. Probably in afternoon Nasri.
can someone please tell me what type of player lansbury is? techniquew? passing, tenacity, strength, skill,pace?
heard laot about him, what makes him so good? apart from his hair?
ill say.. some dudes on this forum need some ppussy.. :S
You cannot say he dosen’t go partying etc because he does, regularly, the day before games etc…How do I know? Because I have seen him…I can go out to bars and clubs because my work doesen’t involve physical activity that is affected by drinking and late nights.
What people do not seem to understand is that he has every right to go out partying etc…its his life its up to him. But if you have been given the opportunity to make it as a professional footballer then why would you waste it drinking and partying..trying to live the celebrity lifestyle.
Thats why people like Cesc are much more mature and spent his nights when he was 17 relaxing and playing on the computer, and thats why he made it. You need to make sacrifices and be dedicated. If Lansbury is acting like this now as a 17 year old, I would hate to what type of attiude he will have when he’s older if he’s still at the club.
Ben Arfa got the number 20, not Nasri’s 22
Ben Arfa has got the No: 20
Ben Arfa hasn’t been given a number yet…
http://www.om.net/fr/Equipes/201001/Effectif_pro
Questioned on the officializing of the departure of Samir Nasri for Arsenal, the president of the OM Pope Diouf declared that the announcement would be done “in two days”.
Diouf : “Nasri ? Dans quelques jours…”Publié le mercredi 2 juillet 2008 à 13H29
Interrogé sur l’officialisation du départ de Samir Nasri pour Arsenal, le président de l’OM Pape Diouf a déclaré que l’annonce serait faite “dans deux jours”. Et de nuancer : “Allez, dans quelques jours”.
Concernant les autres dossiers du mercato et notamment le Niçois Baky Koné, le président n’a pas donné de détails. “C’est sur le feu”, a-t-il précisé.
Suivez en direct les meilleurs moments de la conférence de presse avec Laprovence.com, dans notre rubrique OM en direct.
In a few days!!! So not today guys!!!
for f**k sake!!
This is geting ridiculous but I don’t really care as long as they are also working on other deals behind the scenes and not waiting fo this one to be officially announced.
Super! It’s longer than a brasil soapopera.
Does anyone have the link to the Diouf comments about then the announcement will be?
The link for Diouf comments on Nasri:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laprovence.com%2Farticles%2F2008%2F07%2F02%2F504341-Region-en-direct-Diouf-Nasri-Dans-quelques-jours.php&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=fr&tl=en
Very very interested game. we enjoyed it
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GooD , Blog
A player has to be 17 before they can be given a pro contract so Anton Blackwood, Jonas Rasmussen, James Shea, Craig Eastmond and Luke Ayling all have to wait anyway until they reach that milestone. Even then it is up to Arsenal whether they think they have done enough to get one or not. They could actually wait until 2009/10 season before deciding whether to hand them pro contracts or not. In reality though Jonas is sure to be handed a pro contract on his 17th birthday as that is usually agreed with foreign youngsters when they join the club so like a pre-contract agreement.