Arsenal
[Photos] 4 Teenagers Train With Arsenal First Team Squad Ahead Of Vorskla Clash
Dominic Thompson was one of four teenagers who trained with the first team squad this afternoon ahead of Arsenal’s Europa League clash with Vorskla
Dominic Thompson was one of four teenagers who trained with the first team squad this afternoon ahead of Arsenal’s Europa League clash with Vorskla on Thursday night.
Thompson joined Arsenal’s youth set-up as a midfielder six years ago but has been converted in to a left-back and it seems Unai Emery is ready to call on the youngster due to a shortage of options in defence.
Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are both still working their way back from injuries and Nacho Monreal is due a rest after playing the full 90 minutes in each of our last four Premier League matches.
With Kolasinac and Maitland-Niles not due to return until next month and the games coming thick and fast, it makes sense to give Monreal a breather and that could open the door for Thompson to make his first team debut tomorrow night.
The 18-year-old has made 27 appearances for the U18’s but is yet to feature for the U23’s with Marc Bola the preferred choice for the reserves so it’s interesting that Emery invited Thompson to train with the first team squad this afternoon ahead of the Vorskla game.
Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Julio Pleguezuelo also trained with the first team this afternoon so they could be involved in the squad on Thursday night as Emery looks to make sweeping changes to his team.
The likes of Bernd Leno, Rob Holding, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Lucas Torreira, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mohamed Elneny and Danny Welbeck are all expected to start against the Ukrainian minnows in our Europa League group stage opener.
That means we should see Petr Cech, Hector Bellerin, Sokratis, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all rested ahead of our Premier League clash with Everton on Sunday.
Here are some photos from today’s session:
