According to Football.London, Mikel Arteta has called four Arsenal youngsters into first-team training ahead of the FA Cup final.
The Gunners take on Chelsea in the FA Cup final this weekend, and Arteta has plenty to think about.
Defenders Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers and Shkodran Mustafi are all out, meaning there is something of a defensive shortage.
With that in mind, Arsenal’s young defenders Harry Clarke and Daniel Ballard were spotted in first-team training on Wednesday.
The pair could end up on the bench given that defensive shortage, with 19-year-old Clarke and Ballard, 20, both tipped for bright futures.
They weren’t the only youngsters involved, as goalkeeper Karl Jakob Hein and midfielder Matt Smith also training with the first team.
Smith maybe isn’t a huge surprise, as he has been working with Arteta’s squad for some time now and even been on the bench recently.
Estonian teenager Hein is more of a surprise, especially as Bernd Leno is back in training, possibly with a view to being on the bench in the FA Cup final.
Time will tell whether any of the four are in the squad, but Arteta is at least giving them a taste of senior action ahead of such a huge game.
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