Three academy stars whom Mikel Arteta could involve in the Europa League

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Bengaluru, Sept. 15: Arsenal have some incredible young talent coming through the academy to follow in the footsteps of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe. The Europa League could be a launchpad for some of them.

With the World Cup set to commence at the end of this year, there will be an intense schedule throughout this ongoing campaign, meaning Arteta needs to handle the squad with more care. Therefore, involving a few youngsters from the ranks could be helpful to some of the top stars for getting some rest.

Arteta has used Europa League football to great effect to hand minutes to youngsters in the past. With more Europa League matches coming along rotation is very much required.

So here are three academy players Arsenal could introduce during the club’s Europa League campaign:

Matt Smith

The 21-year-old midfielder has been training with the senior squad for quite a time now and has been included in the Europa League squad as well. However, the attacking midfielder is yet to get a shot at the first team. Arteta however could hand him some experience in this group stage with star midfielder Odegaard expected to sit out in a couple of matches.

Jack Henry-Francis

The 18-year-old defensive midfielder has a good chance of getting his debut in the Europa league this year. Arsenal are short of options in this area with only Thomas Partey and Mohamed El-Neny the acknowledged options. The Gunners are likely to provide rest to one of them in the group stage and it could allow the youngster to get a shot at senior football.

Kido Taylor-Hart

Apart from Martinelli, Arsenal do not have many options in the left-wing role and it could let this academy star's path to first-team football smooth. The 19-year-old English international is rated highly by the Gunners and he has been a star in the youth ranks. He has plenty of time to mature to become a regular, although minutes in the Europa League could speed up this development.