Arsenal manager is looking at the talents in Hale End Academy with most of his senior team members on international duties. In the process, a training opportunity with the senior team was provided for young goalkeeper Alexei Rojas Fedorushchenko, who is hailed as one of the wonder kids in the Arsenal youth academy.
The 16-year-old custodian who hails from Colombia is eligible to play for three countries – England, Russia and Colombia because of his lineage. All these national boards are currently in a tug-of-war between each other to win his services, which is a testament of how highly he is rated in the European and South American youth system.
Fedorushchenko confirmed on his official Instagram handle that he had trained with the first team in a story. His performances for Arsenal’s U16 and U18 setup seemed to have caught the attention of the Arsenal manager, and plenty of others in the club. He is an excellent shot-stopper with great distribution skills, as per multiple scouting reports, and is one of the next big things.
This young keeper was previously scouted by Chelsea too, but three years ago, was invited for an 8-week audition camp for the Gunners. It only took four weeks for him to impress the selection committee, and has remained with them ever since.
Karl Hein, another highly-rated young keeper in the Arsenal youth setup, was injured during a U23 game last weekend, which paved the way for this 16-year-old to enter the training system. Fedorushchenko takes great inspiration from David Ospina, who is the most-capped player in their country’s history and was a two-time FA Cup winner with Arsenal.
He also had the opportunity to interact with one of Premier League’s greatest of all time, Petr Cech, when he was at the Chelsea academy. When he joined Arsenal, Cech was in his final professional season with the Gunners and provided the youngster an autographed jersey.
Arsenal’s youth academy has been a major cause of elation in an otherwise disappointing two seasons for the club. The likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe have been in terrific touch at the senior level, and the fact that they progressed from their youth setup is a positive reflection of their great work in recent years.
