By Daily Sports on February 2, 2018

Arsenal have submitted their squad list for the knockout stages of the Europa League and included in the squad are two young kids of Nigerian decent. Talented winger Xavier Amaechi and solid center back Joseph Olowu, both of whom recently signed their first professional contracts with the Gunners, have made the Europa League cut and they will join Alex Iwobi as the three Nigerian players in the Arsenal team for the competition.

Olowu, who celebrated his 18th birthday on November 27, 2017, has been rewarded with a new deal thanks to his impressive displays for Arsenal’s U18 and U23 teams.

He has trained on several occasions with the Gunners first team filled with the likes of Per Mertesacker, Jack Wilshere, Nacho Monreal, Petr Čech and Alexandre Lacazette.

Olowu was spotted by Arsenal scouts at the age of thirteen while training with Charlton Athletic, and was snapped up by the Emirates outfit after impressing the coaching staff during trials. This season, he has made several appearances for Arsenal amateur squads.

The youngster who joined the north London club in August 2013, at the age of 12, progressed to become a key figure in the club’s youth setup.

Blessed with searing pace and an eye for goal, Amaechi has featured for both the Under-23 and Under-18 this season and has scored a number of goals in the campaign.

Nigeria will be waiting in the wings and hoping these players can develop more into full time professional football and like Iwobi, the country would hope that the young Arsenal stars will opt to represent their fatherland in international games and competitions.

Meanwhile, Arsenal included new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan amongst those in the Europa squad.

Mkhitaryan isn’t permitted to wear number seven in the Europa League as the departed Alexis Sanchez has already worn that number for Arsenal this season, with the Armenian instead allocated number 77.

Injured midfielder Santi Cazorla, who wasn’t named in Arsenal’s previous squad, has been included on this occasion, as has Konstantinos Mavropanos, who joined the club last month.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, however, isn’t eligible for inclusion as his previous club Borussia Dortmund are now also in the Europa League and he has already played in the group stages of a European competition this season.

Source Daily Sports

Posted February 2, 2018

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