Arsenal drop hint over first-team promotions as official squad photo released

Arsenal have included defender Ayden Heaven in their official first-team squad photograph for the season, along with fellow youngsters Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Tommy Setford.

The Gunners have a big week ahead with a trip to Italy to face Atalanta in the Champions League on Thursday night followed by an early title clash at Manchester City on Sunday.

And on Tuesday afternoon Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal players posed for their annual squad photo at their London Colney training ground, with four young players present including Heaven.

New signings Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, Raheem Sterling and Neto were all in attendance, along with the hot prospects.

Nwaneri is probably the closest to breaking into the first team on a full-time basis, with the 17-year-old coming off the bench as a late replacement for Bukayo Saka during the 1-0 north London derby victory over Tottenham on Sunday.

The highly-rated midfielder became the youngest player to ever play in the Premier League at the age of just 15 years and 181 days when he came on against Brentford in September 2022, breaking Harvey Elliott’s record.

He also became Arsenal’s youngest-ever player in any competition, taking the record previously held by Cesc Fabregas. Lewis-Skelly is yet to make his debut for the first team, despite being named on the bench for the Gunners’ last two matches.

He did feature heavily during pre-season however, with the 17-year-old usually operating as a midfielder but also catching the eye at left-back.

Goalkeeper Setford joined Arsenal in July from Ajax for a fee of just under £1million, signing a four-year contract at the Emirates Stadium.

The 18-year-old was an unused substitute for the 1-1 draw with Brighton before the international break and looks to be third-choice option this season behind number one David Raya and Bournemouth loanee Neto.

Heaven was named on the bench for the Spurs match, but is yet to make his debut for the first team having joined the club in 2019 from West Ham.

The 17-year-old defender was among the substitutes for Arsenal’s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Porto in February.