By Daily Sports on July 20, 2017

Until January this year, young fullback Cohen Bramall was playing grassroots football. The 21 year old player was representing non-league side Hednesford Town in the Evo-Stik Nothern Premier Division (7th tier).

He went to some clubs on trial, including premier league club Crystal Palace, but none made a formal offer.

But something bigger was in the offing for the youngster who’s noted for his great pace. Arsenal came calling and in January he was signed for £40,000 from Hednesford.

Bramall’s move to Arsenal looks remarkable today for two reasons. One, very rarely does a non-league player gets drafted directly to a huge premier league side’s senior team. Bramall noted on finding himself training with the likes of Mezut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez: “I got chucked into a 5-vs-5 with some of the best players in the world, like Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Petr Cech. It was crazy,” Bramall told FourFourTwo. “The tempo and movement was outstanding. It was a special moment for me.

“A lot of Arsenal’s players have been brought up on proper technical training sessions, whereas I’d grown up kicking a ball against a fence with my mates. The first few weeks were hard and mentally tough. I’d never seen a mannequin in my life and then I was training with mannequins, cones and all sorts of equipment. I’ve got the gist of it now.”

The second reason that his move is remarkable is that he seems to figure in the plans of manager Arsene Wenger as far as the first team is concerned. He has played many minutes in the three friendly games the Gunners have had in preseason so far, including Wednesday's thriller against mighty Bayern Munich of Germany, complete with Frank Ribery.

Bramall has impressed in these games and there would be no surprises seeing him get some considerable game time in the coming season.

The kid has shown attacking tendencies from a defensive-minded position, which highlight his capability to play as a left-sided winger if required. Relishing the ability to drive forward both with and without the ball at his feet, his explosive acceleration and agility is definitely a handful for opposition defenders to isolate.

“He’s got the strength, he’s very quick and runs with the ball naturally – he’s a dream player. He’s got it all,” Hednesford Town’s manager Paul Casey said in late November about the youngster.

Arsenal’s next match is on Saturday in a preseason tie against Chelsea and Bramall would expectedly have some minutes to play against the current premier league defending champions.

For a player who was rendered redundant in the factory job where he was working full time to support himself a few months before he joined Arsenal, to now be receiving a healthy salary while playing for one of the best clubs in the world, Bramall’s journey so far shows that the most unlike of persons, in the most improbable of circumstances, can become great.

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 20, 2017

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