The Gunners have completed their first transfer of the window, having put pen on paper with West Brom’s teenage sensation Lino Da Cruz Sousa. The 16-year-old footballer, who is a very talented left-back, has been representing the West Brom U18s since last season and has made a very significant impression.
According to the club’s official website, Sousa is a versatile left-back with great dribbling skills and is incredible with his close control. He was asked to train with the English national camp previously and has also played for the U15 and U16 national sides before. He also got a start for West Brom in Premier League 2 against Newcastle, and is slowly gearing up for the highest level.
“Lino’s an athletic full-back, reads the game well, has a lovely left foot and it’s not often a 16-year-old plays an entire season with the 18s, but that’s credit to him because he has so much potential,”
said West Brom under-18’s coach Peter Gilbert.
In addition to playing as a full-back, the footballer can play higher up the pitch and can operate across all positions in the midfield. There is a dearth of full-backs among Arsenal who can also operate in different areas, which should make Sousa, who is partly Brazilian, a very exciting prospect in the coming years.
Sousa, who turns 17 in a week, will be integrated into the U18 side, who are currently fifth in the U18 South zone points table. The young team registered just one win in their last four games and will be boosted by the new addition.
Arsenal were prompted to go for a left-back signing after Per Mertesacker, the chief of academy, earmarked that position and said they needed some strengthening in that area. The club have made some of their other academy players available for loan moves, with the likes of Florian Balogun very nearly completing his move to Middlesbrough.
With the club off the mark in the January window, they will be keen on making further additions to the senior squad, with Mikel Arteta prioritising Dusan Vlahovic as his main target for the winter window. If the Serbian fails to join, the club are also looking at Lille’s Jonathan David, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin as alternatives.
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