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Arsenal forward Wellington Silva is learning the “Dennis Bergkamp” role with parent club Fluminense, after impressing as a substitute in the first two fixtures of the new Brazilian Série A season.

Silva’s stock has risen significantly since he signed for the Gunners and he’s now considered a star in his own right in Brazil. Promoted to the first team after an impressive pre-season, coach Muricy Ramalho is working closely with the precocious prospect. His two substitute appearances so far have yielded a new side to the 17-year-old, a defensive, hard working side.

Fluminense possess an impressive strike force, with Hertha Berlin loanee André Lima and former Lyon hitman Fred the notable names. Flu’s opening game of the campaign was a 1-0 defeat to Ceará, where Wellington was introduced with 10 minutes left. He ran, chased and tracked back well, as well as looking dangerous with possession. Operating just off Lima in a 4-4-2, he looked every bit a deadly number 10.

Yesterday saw their second game of the season. A home fixture with Goianiense, which they won 1-0. Again Silva came off the bench, and again he showed the defensive aspects of the game which impressed everybody. He still needs to tighten up on his positional and tactical play, but Wellington is learning to find a balance between his flamboyant, skillful style, and a defensive and hard working attitude he will need to succeed in Europe.

The future is looking very promising for young Wellington.

Welcome to this weekends Loanees Watch – Young Guns’ analysis, reports and updates on the progress of the young starlets currently plying their trade away from the Emirates Stadium. You can read all the latest reports below.

Håvard Nordtveit‘s loan spell with Nuremberg has ended on a positive note, after they beat FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga playoffs to guarantee their place in the German top flight next year. Håvard finished the domestic season as a regular, but he failed to get off the bench  in either game of the two-legged fixture. Nuremberg, who had a 1-0 lead from the first leg, won 2-0 this evening, meaning they claimed safety 3-0 on aggregate. You can read more about the 19-year-old’s future plans, here.

Pedro Botelho was an unused substitute for Celta Vigo as they suffered defeat against Elche. Botelho returned to the squad following arguments with coach Eusebio Sacristán, but he is destined to complete the season on the bench after the ugly incident two weeks ago.

Arsenal’s Premier Academy League Final stars Benik Afobe and Chuks Aneke have linked up with the England Under 17 squad ahead of the forthcoming UEFA European U17 Championship Finals. This year’s tournament will take place in Liechtenstein.

The duo both played key parts in the Young Lions qualification for the tournament. Afobe finished top scorer with his strike partner, the much talked about Connor Wickham, struggling to match the pace set by the Gunners marksman. Aneke also weighted in with goals, although he is battling for a starting place in a competitive squad.

Manchester United, defeated by Arsenal en-route to the Under 18 League Final, have three representatives while Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton all have two each. John Peacock’s side kick off their Euro campaign against Czech Republic on Tuesday 18th of May, followed by Greece on the 21th and Turkey on the 24th. The top two nations in each group will qualify for the semi-final where they will face either France, Spain, Portugal or Switzerland.

Surprisingly Martin Angha wasn’t included in the initial Switzerland squad despite impressing during a friendly against the France team captained by Paul Pogba last week. Peacock spoke of his delight with the squad he’s selected in an interview with UEFA.com:

“It’s a good group of players. There is a lot of potential there but that’s all there is at the moment. We have to continue to keep working hard as a group. If we keep doing what we can do we will be there or thereabouts by the end of the tournament, but there are good teams against us that are going to try and stop us playing. Overall I’m delighted with the group I have and I look forward to working with them in the finals.”

The prestigious tournament top scorer award has previously been won by Wayne, Rooney (2002), Cesc Fàbregas (2004), Bojan Krkić (2007) and more recently Danijel Aleksić. Afobe and Aneke are gunning to join those big names when the tournament kicks off on the 18th.

The end of the season is always a time for reflection and while Arsene Wenger will be picking through the bones of the first team’s season and wondering what the future holds, some of the younger fringe players at the club will be asking themselves the same question.

This season several of Arsenal’s most talented young reserve team players have spent long periods out on loan. Jay Simpson (41 appearances, 13 goals) has enjoyed a hugely successful spell with Queens Park Rangers and Henri Lansbury has played a key role in Watford avoiding the drop into League One making 38 appearances over the course of the season and scoring 4 goals. Jack Wilshere has also impressed scoring 1 goal in his 13 games whilst out on loan at Owen Coyle’s Bolton, so much so that Coyle has already intimated that he would like to bring the youngster back to the Reebok on a season long loan for the entire 2010-2011 campaign.

That is just some of the higher profile younger players who have spent periods out on loan this season. In all Arsenal have had 15 of their young professionals out on loan. Luke Ayling has made 4 appearances for Yeovil, Kyle Bartley 13 for Sheffield United, Pedro Botelho 25 for Celta Vigo (scoring 1 goal), Jay Emmanuel-Thomas 13 for Doncaster (scoring an impressive 5 goals), Kerrea Gilbert 10 for Peterborough, Gavin Hoyte 21 for Brighton, Havard Nordtveit 19 for Nurembourg, Mark Randall 18 for MK Dons, Gilles Sunu 9 appearances and 1 goal for Derby County, Wojciech Szczesny 27 appearances for Brentford and lastly Sanchez Watt has made 6 appearances for Leeds United.

Not to mention Philippe Senderos who spent the last few months of the season at Everton.

While for many of these young professionals, the experience will stand them in good stead as they seek to either make the grade at Arsenal, or secure a future for themselves elsewhere in the game, there are some intriguing questions to be asked about the most talented players in this group.

For example, will Wojciech Szczesny, who has been in superb form for Brentford, be given a chance in goal ahead of Almunia, Fabianski and Mannone next season? Will Jay Simpson and Henri Lansbury forge their way into the hugely competetive Arsenal first team squad? They are questions that need to be answered and not even the best online betting sites can give you the merest hint as to the answer.

It’s a crucial question that these young players need to answer. Experience at lower league sides is only useful to you if you can then put this to good use at your parent club. So the question is, have these youngsters prepared themselves for a future in the game with the Arsenal first team, or have they simply proved that to further their careers, they may be forced to move on?

So it is a crucial summer for some of these players who are now approaching 20 years of age. The question is do they feel another season in the Arsenal reserve team and only making fleeting first team appearances in the Carling Cup or meaningless European Games, or being sent out on loan again to a lower league club, will be more beneficial to them than trying to move on to a new club and make a fresh start?

I guess we will only find out the answer to that, over the course of the summer.

In 2004 Arsène Wenger cleared out his squad with 17 players, from first-team regulars to promising youngsters, all being released. Sylvain Wiltord and Martin Keown were the notable names while name sakes Nwankwo and Sam Kanu both left Highbury. At different ends of their careers, they may have shared the same surname, but they went on to have completely different fortunes.

Nwankwo went on to join Portsmouth but for Sam, who’s youth career had been dogged by a knee injury, he quickly realised a dream life as a footballer would not come to fruition. After various attempts to return to fitness, he was forced into retirement. A bitter blow for the youngster who had been scouted and signed at 10-years-old. He came through the Hale End Academy and went on to win the equivalent of the Premier Academy League with the Under 19’s.

Although Sam’s career with football came to an end, his association with the game didn’t. After setting up a local club for young footballers on the streets, he gained a job as an entertainments officer for the London Mayor. Youngsters who joined the setup he formed would benefit from being watched by Arsenal scouts in a distant partnership with the Gunners. However, on a regular trip to his local Costcutter store, Kanu was violently attacked by Rocky Djelal in what police later confirmed was a race related attack.

Djelal received three years in prison for GBH but was out after serving less than half of the sentence. Sam was left with severe brain-damage and requires 24 hour care. Far from his once promising football career, the 24-year-old is now wheelchair bound and unable to speak.

Sam’s proud mother Linda Bangura has previously met with former Home Secretary Alan Johnson to discuss the level of street crime in the capital, in the hope that the shocking and unprovoked attack sustained by Sam Kanu is never repeated.

Steve Bould has made one change to the XI which defeated Manchester United, with Oguzhan Ozyakup replacing Roarie Deaon for this afternoon’s Premier Academy League Final against Nottingham Forest. However, there are two surprise inclusions on the bench, with Kyle Bartley and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas replacing Martin Angha and Jamie Edge in the squad.

Shea
Yennaris – Boateng – Miquel – Evina (c)
Ozyakup – Frimpong – Henderson
Aneke – Afobe – Freeman

Subs: McDermott, Bartley, Meade, Deacon, Emmanuel-Thomas.

Kick off is at 2pm at the Emirates Stadium. You can follow live text updates on our Twitter feed if you’re at work and have no access to the fixture. A full Match Report will follow on the full time whistle.

Arsenal play host to Nottingham Forest later today in the Premier Academy League Final, with Steve Bould’s Under 18’s looking to retain the crown they won with victory over Tottenham Hotspur last year.

The Gunners cruised through Group A while Forest claimed the Group D gong, but places in the final for both teams were hard fought. A 1-1 draw meant Arsenal needed penalties to dispatch of Manchester United, and there was an equally enthralling fixture in the other game. Nottingham also won on spot kicks after tieing 1-1 with Leicester City in normal time.

Bould admitted his current crop aren’t quite on the level that won the League and Cup double last year, but their spirit and resolve will stand them in good stead in what’s expected to be a tight encounter. Dutchman Oğuzhan Özyakup scored with his first touch against United, but he’s likely to be named on the bench again. Swiss duo Martin Angha and Sead Hajrovic are back from international duty and will compete with Nicholas Yennaris for the right back slot. James Shea is expected to continue between the sticks.

Predicted Starting XI

Shea
Yennaris – Boateng – Miquel – Evina
Aneke – Frimpong – Henderson
Deacon – Afobe – Freeman

Subs: McDermott, Angha, Özyakup, Edge, Meade.

Kick off is at 2pm UK time at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Tickets are free but if you can’t get to the game, Arsenal TV Online are broadcasting the fixture live from 1.55pm. Young Guns will have a full Match Report and reaction shortly after the full time whistle.

Troubled Arsenal utility man Pedro Botelho faces an uncertain future after falling out of favour with loan club Celta Vigo following an ugly spat with manager Eusebio Sacristán last weekend. Botelho is yet to play for the Gunners due to work permit issues but his spell in Spain with both Celta and UD Salamanca have courted controversy.

The 20-year-old’s latest complaint comes after being substituted in a 2-1 win over against Cádiz. Pedro, clearly furious at being replaced, berated Sacristán on the touchlines and was told to keep away from training. He was not included in the side for Saturday’s win over Girona but has now returned to training.

“No player likes to be replaced, it was just a moment of rage. We learn from our mistakes and I will continue to work hard to correct my mistake.”

The youngster has been learning a central midfield position after spells at both left back and left wing. A poor performance against Cádiz rilled the fans in a season which, despite a great Cup run, will go down as a disappointing one. Yet Botelho refuses to be down about the game and is instead looking to the future.

“The fans pay to see the best of Celta and I’m disappointed because we didn’t entertain them. I’m not going to make excuses but while it is clear that I’m playing a lot, I’m not having the continuity that I require. My season has still been a good one and I’m not going to throw it away after one bad game.”

“From now on, everything will stay the same until June 30th and then I will think about the future. I have to talk to Arsenal, my agent and my family to decide.”

A return to North London in some capacity is imminent. A meeting is scheduled in the coming weeks to determine what the future holds. After rows and allegations at Salamanca, Pedro joined Celta Vigo hoping for a fresh start. Now they’ve closed the door and it seems that if he’s not playing at Arsenal next year, another Segunda side will take up the option to loan the Brazilian.

Henri Lansbury made his Premier League debut for Arsenal this afternoon, replacing Theo Walcott with 15 minutes left in a comfortable victory against Fulham. Lansbury only returned to the Gunners on Monday, after a season on loan with Watford, where he made 37 appearances.

Lansbury renewed his contract with Arsenal at the start of the year and after an uncertain future, the tenacious midfielder is now on track for a fine career with the club. Arsène Wenger told the media last term that Henri would lead a new wave of promising English talent, and on the form he’s shown with Watford this year, and during his brief sub appearance today, he’s spot on.

Henri was involved in the move which setup Carlos Vela for the fourth, having previously had a cross looking for the Mexican cleared. The future looks very bright indeed for the England Under 19 skipper.

Elsewhere, Jack Wilshere completed his loan spell with Bolton Wanderers, playing the full 90 minutes at home to Birmingham City. Wilshere was involved constantly in the first half, and he should have won a penalty after clipping the ball against Liam Ridgewell for what looked like a certain spot kick.

Jack has made 15 appearances during his spell with the Trotters, scoring once. He is now expected back at London Colney for pre-season training, although Owen Coyle has already confirmed that he’ll be in touch with Wenger in an attempt to secure his signing for next season.