Two Nigerian-born youngsters, Tobi Omole and James Olayinka were both part of The Gunners’ main team’s final training session ahead of Thursday’s English Premier League clash with Leon Aderemi Balogun’s Brighton & Hove Albion, megasportsarena.com reports.
While another Nigerian in the squad, Bukayo Saka has already cemented a first team spot with the London club thus far this season, and was also involved in the final workout, The Gunners’ interim gaffer, Freddie Ljungberg invited 19-year-old central midfielder Olayinka and versatile defender Omole to join the lot on Wednesday at London Colney.
While Olayinka has also taken some giant strides in recent time with The Gunners, Omole is set to be the one of the first beneficiaries of Ljungberg’s promotion at Arsenal, as the 19-year-old lad has also made rapid progress through the club’s Hale End Academy.
Omole was part of The Gunners’ main team’s drills for the first time this season, as Ljunberg put him under the spotlight once again, with the 42-year-old Swedish former attacker-turned-gaffer having worked with the youngster in the London club’s under-23 squad for over two years.
Dramatically, Omole had earlier been involved with the first team training during the days of Arsene Wenger, ahead of a league game against Watford in March 2018, and the highly rated whiz-kid, who is capable of playing as a central defender, defensive midfielder or left-back, has featured three times in the English Premier League 2 and twice in the EFL Trophy this season.
On his part, Olayinka has trained with Arsenal’s first team in recent weeks, including during the last international break when recently sacked Spanish tactician, Unai Emery was still in charge of the widely supported North London club.
However, there is also talk about the need for better composure and matured play from Omole, who is still eligible to play at senior level for both England and Nigeria, as he was sent off in an EFL Trophy game for Arsenal’s under-21 team against Northampton in August.
While Omole appears to have regained his place in Ljunberg’s heart, Olayinka, on the other hand, had better luck in the game against Northampton as he got himself on the scoresheet, but while both youngsters are probably still quite far off from permanent promotion to the first team for competitive matches, they will be eager to impress in training.
Down the line, Olayinka will hope to replicate Joe Willock’s success secrets on how to get a place in The Gunners’ saturated midfield and Omole will battle with Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac for the left-back berth.
