Suffering an injury at any time is hugely frustrating but Louie Copley will be especially disappointed following his setback last night.
The full extent of the injury sustained by the 19-year-old while playing for the Arsenal first-team against Real Betis is yet to be discovered but the early signs were certainly concerning.
Copley had also featured in the previous friendly against Girona, operating out of position at right-back despite mainly being a midfielder.
The youngster has a good all round understanding of the game which should aid his development in senior football, and he gained valuable experience while on loan at Crawley in the second half of last season.
A player who was part of the same scholarship intake as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri in 2023, Copley’s progression to senior football hasn’t been as quick as those two but he has developed well over the past year especially.
Copley has impressive leadership skills, as shown by the fact that he has often captained Arsenal at U21 level.
Last summer Copley travelled with the senior squad for pre-season but didn’t actually feature. This time around he did manage to get on the pitch but unfortunately not for long.
Copley is also set for another relatively minor inconvenience as he will probably have to give up his squad number, 39, amid the expected arrival of Bruno Guimaraes.
The focus now will be on finding out how long Copley will be sidelined for and giving him the support he needs to bounce back.
Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird