Last night was a significant occasion for the Arsenal academy with a host of youngsters featuring for the first-team in their victory against Girona.
Max Dowman and Marli Salmon are only 16 years old but they both already look very much like senior players.
Defensive midfielder Ife Ibrahim gave a very good account of himself and Josh Ogunnaike, who was deployed at left-back during his time on the pitch, also played well.
Louie Copley, who is normally a midfielder, featured out of position at right-back but still had some good moments, with the likes of Brayden Clarke, Andre Harriman-Annous, Ceadach O’Neill and Ismeal Kabia also involved.
Demiane Agustien and Theo Julienne were introduced late on, with all of the outfield youngsters who travelled with the squad receiving playing time.
All of the youngsters acquitted themselves well and this was a fantastic experience for their development.
Some of the youth players are likely to remain with the first-team over the next couple of weeks but afterwards it is possible that some of the more experienced youngsters may be loaned out.
New academy director Pascal De Maesschalck officially started work yesterday and while there is still much for the academy to improve upon he will have been pleased with how many youngsters were involved with the senior squad.
Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird