Just Arsenal News

Ever since Arsene Wenger took over as the manager of Arsenal Football Club back in 1996, the Frenchman has made the academy and youth development parts of the club very important. Ideally, Wenger would like to follow the Barcelona example of being able to field a whole team of players who have come through the Arsenal ranks.

This would be great for financial reasons, but also because it would mean the players would have huge ties to the club. They would, hopefully, be more reluctant to leave and would be more determined to help bring success. That is all well and good in principle, but it hasn’t really been working too well. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal are to open football training schools across India this summer to develop young footballers in India and give thousands of children across the country somewhere to learn and play safely away from the dangerous streets.

This move will be beneficial for Arsenal and India as the club can train young players and potentially sign them if they begin to show a real talent in the game. Indian children will now have a sport to play and have something to occupy their time.

There will be Arsenal trained coaches at these schools to help kids learn and play football the Arsenal way. Arsenal have several schools like this in Africa where they have brought some players over to England to train with the club and have a chance of going professional. .......Read the full article here

When Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal back in 1996, he had already requested the signing of the French international midfielder Patrick Vieira from AC MIlan. That would turn out to be one of the most successful transfers ever, as Vieira was an integral part of the Gunners for the next nine seasons, the most successful period in Arsenal history. The 36-year old could soon be re-united with his mentor, apparently, as Wenger has spoken to him about the job of replacing Liam Brady as Head of Youth Development and Academy Director, reports the Daily Mail. .......Read the full article here

Liam Brady has been Head of Youth Development and Academy Director at Arsenal since 1996, and Jack Wilshere joined the club as a nine year old just months after the former Gunner took charge. That gives Brady a great insight into the progress and ability of Wilshere, and the Irishman has been extolling his virtues ahead of the England friendly tomorrow.

56-year old Brady won 72 caps in a 16 year spell with the Republic of Ireland, so is no stranger to the international scene either, and he believes that Jack is set to be right up with some of the best England players of all time. He also spoke about his fears for Jack after such a long spell out of the game due to injury, although he has now put all that behind him with a brilliant return to form. .......Read the full article here

Liam Brady is an Arsenal legend, there is no doubt about it, and when he finishes his fantastic job of running the youth academy in 2014, it is vital that Arsenal pick the right man to fill his shoes. I feel it should be somebody with a big connection to the club, and Dennis Bergkamp certainly fits that description. Some newspapers reported that Bergkamp may be in line for the position, but I do not think he is the right man. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal are proud of the youth system and rightly so, as it has produced some key players for Arsenal. Arsene Wenger is keen for that to continue, and has revealed that he would prefer it if the players coming through were local, ot at least British, as he feels that they would then be more likely to stay at the club.

Wenger is confident that one of the best players ever to come through the Arsenal youth system, Jack Wilshere, will not cause problems with signing a new contract because he is a local lad who has been with the club since he was nine years old. .......Read the full article here

Ivan Gazidis made it clear this week that Arsenal would not be giving in to Theo Walcott’s wage demands to persuade him to sign a contract extension, so it would seem that Arsene Wenger will need to cash in on the wannabe striker in January, but who is Wenger likely to replace him with?

Thomas Eisfeld is the obvious candidate to be promoted from the reserves. He has only been at Arsenal for a year but has come on in leaps and bounds and was especially impressive in the pre-season games. The Germany youth star believes he has improved since then. .......Read the full article here

The Arsenal starlet Chuks Aneke was sent off for a months loan at Crewe Alexander but it all went wrong after just 73 minutes of his debut against Stevenage when Aneke made a mad two-footed challenge on Stevenage’s Anthony Grant which resulted in straight red card and an automatic three-match ban.

This meant that he could only play in one more game during his loan period, but now Arsenal have sensibly extended his visit to give him more chances of gaining first-team experience at Gresty Road. .......Read the full article here

More of Arsenals Reserve Team Wonder Kids (Part 2) – by JG

Well, now that the Van Persie hysteria is leveling out I suppose we can continue discussing the Wonder Kids coming up through Arsenal reserves/academy. Someone actually commented saying “where is the second part of the wonder kids articles? Let’s get back to talking about that.” I agree, let’s float back down from the realms of insanity, anger, and anguish. Today, the two Wonder Kids are Serge Gnabry and Kristoffer Olsson. .......Read the full article here

The seasonal poaching of Barcelona youngsters by Arsene Wenger seems to continue apace. The Gunners have just been ordered to pay £300,000 compensation to the Spanish giants for Jon Niquel Toral-Harper, who recently decide to join Arsenal instead of staying at the Nou Camp.

Now today it seems that the Spanish Daily Sport is reporting that Hector Bellerin, a good friend of Toral-Harper, has also decided to swap Barcelona for Arsenal and he will sign the papers next month.

The 16 year-old is said to be one of the most talented midfielders at the Barca Academy. He is said to be very fast and can be utilised on both wings with ease. .......Read the full article here

The young Arsenal centre-back Ignasi Miquel has been promoted to the Gunners first-team on the back of the long-term injuries to both Thomas Vermaelen and Johann Djourou, and although he is very keen to move up to the senior squad, he admits that there are still a few things he needs to improve in his game.

“You are training with top players who are fighting for the Premier League. I want to be there and training hard is the only way to get there,” Miquel told Arsenal.com.

“There is a much different pace from the Academy. Technically and tactically it’s absolutely different. It’s a different level, a level that you want to reach. .......Read the full article here

It is being reported this morning that Arsenal have poached another youngster from the Barcelona academy. His name is Jon Miquel Toral Harper. He is a 16 year-old midfielder who is half-English and the Sun reports this morning that he is close to signing for Arsenal.

It seems that the Barcelona president Sandro Rosell is very upset with the Gunners over the alleged poaching, and was seen berating Ivan Gazidis before last weeks Champions League game at the Emirates.

The Sun quotes an eye witness as saying: “Rosell seemed to be raising his voice at Gazidis who stayed calm and did not respond. It was clear, though, that Rosell was particularly angry.” .......Read the full article here