Mikel Arteta calls up ‘aggressive’ 20-year-old youngster to first-team training ahead of Lens clash

Arsenal manager has called up youngster Jack Henry-Francis to first-team training ahead of their Champions League clash against RC Lens tonight.

Described as an ‘aggressive and tenacious’ midfielder, Arteta was keeping a close eye on the best players in the club’s academy.

Arsenal will be looking to continue their strong start in European competition tonight.

After winning their first Champions League match of the season 4-0 against PSV Eindhoven, they’ll be looking to record back-to-back wins on the road tonight.

Arsenal received a boost ahead of today’s match when Thomas Partey was spotted in training.

The Ghanaian international has been missing for several weeks after starting the season at right-back.

It will be interesting to see what position he plays when he returns to the side.

Declan Rice’s introduction suggested that Partey might not be in Mikel Arteta’s plans, but instead, he was shifted into defence.

There was no Gabriel Martinelli among the players who trained, although injury doubt Bukayo Saka featured.

Arteta made sure some of Arsenal’s youngsters featured in training and Jack Henry-Francis was given a call-up.

The 20-year-old midfielder has some fantastic players to learn from in the squad such as Rice and Partey.

Whether he’s going to be given the nod ahead of the likes of Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny is yet to be seen.

Henry-Francis called up to Arsenal training
Arsenal have one of the strongest academies in the country right now with several youngsters knocking on the door of the first team.

There’s a huge amount of excitement around Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly but this season is likely too soon to see them feature regularly.

Someone like Henry-Francis has been touted for a senior call-up yet, but impressing in training with Arsenal’s first team can only help his cause.

The defensive midfielder already has a goal to his name in Premier League 2 this season in just three appearances.

He’s also an Ireland Under-21 international, but he’s reaching the point in his career where if he’s not going to feature under Arteta, he needs to think about going out on loan.