Arsenal: First-team future looks young

Arsenal are entering a massive transition period for the club and the future of the first team looks to be getting younger.

Arsenal are entering a massive transition period for the club. Unai Emery is looking to rebuild his squad and bring in players to match his ambitions and style and the squad is at a point where a major overhaul is likely. And if recent news and transfer speculations are anything to go by, that overhaul will be dictated by the young players.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Death, Decay, Despair

It was recently announced that Freddie Ljungberg would be leaving the under 23s and taking a role with the first team, working directly with Unai Emery and his coaching squad. Ljungberg’s knowledge of Arsenal’s youth means his main task next season will be to integrate the young players with the first team and help them succeed at the top level.

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Pain in the Arsenal touched on three young players who could break into the first team next season with Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock, and Reiss Nelson all slated to have bigger roles. Add them in with the youth already in the first team, including Dinos Mavropanos, Matteo Guendouzi, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, all of whom played their part this past season, and it is clear to see that the club boasts one of the most talented crops of young talent in over a decade.

Moreover, the Gunners have been linked with a number of young players from all over the world. If rumors are to be believed, they are interested in bringing in the likes of centre-back William Saliba (18), left winger Alexis Claude-Maurice (21), left-back Kieran Tierney (22), right winger Christian Pavon (23), and centre-back Joachim Andersen (23).

Although it’s unlikely all will sign, they all share the same qualities: they are either very young or are just entering the primes of their careers. It is a clear indication of the direction the club is looking to head.

Further, older players such as Stephan Lichsteiner and Petr Cech have already left the club, and with Nacho Monreal, Mesut Ozil, and Laurent Koscielny potentially all heading for the exit door behind them, Emery seems to be set on utilizing youth moving forward.

Fans have been crying out this year for the Spanish head coach to create an identity and maintain a style of play. By bringing in youth, perhaps he can do precisely that, building a team capable of challenging at the top level for years to come.

For the club, then, the first-team future is a young one, and it might just be a bright one too.