Who from the under-21s could make the step into the first-team squad

Who from the under-21s could make the step into the first-team squad

By Jonny Bray

Arsenal haven't got a bad record at all with La Masia graduates, and there's every chance they could have another star on their hands here.

Arsenal's academy has proven to be a prolific source of talent over the last five years.

Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka may be the ones grabbing the headlines, but the sheer number of players challenging for a first-team spot at the Emirates is genuinely astounding.

Even players like Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who many say are not good enough to be playing week in and week out for the Gunners, have shown that they are very capable Premier League players.

But how long can this rich vein of talent keep flowing for?

Some will say that this is just a golden generation and that the chances of Arsenal producing players of this quality for years to come are slim.

But that is simply not the case if the amount of talent in the under-21s is anything to go by, and so here are the rising stars who could make the step up into the Arsenal first team.

William Saliba

A lot of fans consider William Saliba to be a forgotten man at Arsenal.


Cast off into the fiery chasm from whence he came, France's Ligue 1, the central defender has struggled to break into the first-team squad during his Arsenal career so far.


However, he's been quietly rebuilding his reputation in France, proving why he was so highly regarded in the first place during his multiple loan stints.


He's recorded two clean sheets in his last three games and has regularly featured for one of the country's biggest teams in Olympique de Marseille.


If he wants to be a permanent feature at Arsenal for years to come, he'll need to take that form into the Premier League, but he looks like a defender who will pull it all together in the end.

Arthur Okonkwo

Arthur Okonkwo is one of the most exciting young goalkeepers in world football.

Unfortunately for him, Arsenal already have one of the most exciting young shot-stoppers in superb form with Aaron Ramsdale, but that doesn't mean Okonkwo can't carve out a path of his own at the Emirates.

The 20-year-old signed a new long-term deal with the club and crucially started training with the first-team squad in July of this year.

He'll have to overtake Ramsdale to break into the team, but if the excitement at the club is anything to go by, he certainly has the potential to do it.

Joel López Salguero

Within a decade, Joel López Salguero could be the best defender in the Premier League.

All he needs is a chance and the right people around him.

Fortunately, the days of David Luiz, Héctor Bellerín and Sead Kolašinac have come to an end, meaning López will actually have some competence and experience around him when he breaks into the team.

Lopez isn't just a good defender, he's a player built in the Arsenal mould.

Excellent on the ball, quick, and aggressive in the tackle, this is a young man who is more suited to the Arsenal of the early 2000s than the Gunners of the last decade.

Lopez joined Barcelona's famed La Masia youth academy at the age of just nine and remained there until he was 16.

Photo Credit: Getty Images 

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