Arsenal news – The confirmation of Mikel Arteta’s Champions League squad arrived on Monday evening with one academy starlet as an interesting inclusion

Mikel Arteta will be hoping he can unearth another Bukayo Saka in the coming years having seen the impact the Hale End graduate has had on his Arsenal team. Despite only being 22, Saka is the talisman for the current Gunners side and even during their tricky period under Arteta, was the clear shining light.

Across the 184 appearances he has already made for the first team, Saka has 40 goals and grabbed 42 assists. The England forward has also made 29 appearances at a senior level scoring 11 goals in the process, showcasing the clear impact he has already had for both club and country.

With Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Rice Nelson also among the stars developed through the ranks currently in Arteta’s squad, there is a clear pathway to the first team. Folarin Balogun’s timing of a breakout season was unfortunate with Gabriel Jesus signed from Manchester City 12 months earlier and Nketiah signing a new long-term contract last summer.

However, Arsenal were able to benefit from his spectacular form by selling him to AS Monaco in a deal worth €40million (£34million) with a 17.5% sell on clause. However, the main aim of the academy is to get young players ready for the step up into the first-team picture and a bold decision from Arteta could have hinted at the next starlet ready for the jump.

On Monday evening, Arsenal confirmed their 25-man List A Champions League squad with 18-year-old Lino Sousa listed in the section of defenders. Sousa joined the club 18 months prior from West Brom, aged 16, and was included in the youthful squad Arteta took to Brentford last season which also saw Ethan Nwaneri go on to become the youngest player to ever appear in a Premier League game at 15 years and 181 days old.

Nwaneri was very nearly poached in the summer after struggling to reach an agreement on scholarship terms before a firm deadline. Thankfully for Arsenal, a deal was agreed that would see him remain at his boyhood club and sign a professional contract when he turns 17 in March 2024.

Alongside Nwaneri and Sousa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Amario Cozier-Dubbery and Reuell Walters have all been tipped for big things with the latter even receiving praise from Oleksandr Zinchenko for his performances when called up to first-team training.

However, it was Sousa given the spot in the Champions League squad, likely in place of the injured Jurrien Timber, that may just show the faith Arteta has in him. Alternatively, it could be one way around a UEFA regulation surrounding which players Arsenal can submit in ‘List B’.

The UEFA rules state: “A player may be registered on List B if he is 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 on, or after, January 1 2002 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day (players aged 16 may be submitted if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years).”

While Sousa was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 after the required date he has not been at the club for two years since he was 15 and therefore does not qualify for a ‘List B’ submission. Nonetheless, his inclusion still shows that Arteta is an admirer as there is no guarantee he would’ve been one of the Under-21 players called up on the eve of a matchday in order to fill out the squad.