There wasn’t a great deal of fanfare surrounding Arsenal’s acquisition Tim Akinola during the summer.
The Gunners made a string of low-profile signings for the Under-23 side – and the 19-year-old was among them.
The Nigeria-born powerhouse joined Arsenal from Huddersfield Town in August.
And it looks like the central midfielder has already caught the eye of head coach Mikel Arteta.
According to All Nigeria Soccer, Akinola was promoted to Arteta’s senior training on Wednesday as the Spaniard put some big-name players through their paces at London Colney.
He’s only in the infancy of his Arsenal career but Akinola has already made an impression for Steve Bould’s Under-23 side, starting three games.
Per Mertesacker, who heads the North London side’s academy, is clearly doing big things at the club and Akinola looks to be a big part of that.
Salah Eddine and Jonathan Dinzeyi – formerly of Tottenham Hotspur – are other highly-rated teens to have joined the Gunners in recent months.
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