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[Photos] 17-year-old among 7 youngsters to train with Arsenal ahead of Southampton

By on April 7, 2018

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Arsene Wenger invited seven of his young-guns to train with the first team as Arsenal prepared for Sunday’s visit of Southampton to the Emirates.

We welcome the Saints to north London tomorrow knowing we have very little left to play for in the Premier League as we have no chance of finishing in the top four with Spurs now 16 points ahead.

Therefore, Thursday’s Europa League second leg against CSKA Moscow is the priority and Wenger may be thinking about fielding a weakened side tomorrow – despite the fact we hold a 4-1 lead from the first leg.

The boss invited a number of the youth players to train with the first team today with Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Matt Macey, Dejan Iliev and Matt Smith all taking part at London Colney today.

Most of the boys have experience training with the first team squad this season but 17-year-old midfielder Smith was given a rare chance to impress the boss this afternoon.

It remains to be seen whether any of the youngsters will make the squad against Southampton but I’d guess Nelson and Nketiah have a decent chance if Wenger decides to rest some of his key men ahead of the trip to Russia.

Macey should at least make the bench as David Ospina has been ruled out for three weeks with an ankle injury.

Here are some photos of today’s session courtesy of Arsenal’s Getty Images account:

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Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images