The youngest member of Arsenal’s current first year scholars, Marli Salmon perhaps has the best chance of being the first to make his competitive senior debut for the club out of that group.
Salmon hit the headlines in the summer when, aged just 15, he featured prominently for the Arsenal first-team in pre-season and didn’t look out of place.
That came off the back of a superb second half of the previous campaign in which the defender established himself as a key figure for the U21s while he was still a schoolboy.
Now, with injuries to first-team defenders perhaps increasing his chances of a callup in the near future, how has Salmon progressed this season?
Salmon has continued to train with the first-team when the opportunity has arisen and has been called upon at right-back in some sessions, although centre-back certainly seems to be his strongest position.
After featuring for England U17s, he was a late callup to the Three Lions’ squad for the World Cup for that age group but didn’t play a single minute at the tournament.
Since returning to Arsenal he has produced an excellent display against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Youth League in which he demonstrated his excellent technical ability and also made a rare appearance for the U18s as he was sent off in a typically heated north London derby.
When available Salmon has been an important player for the U21s and also featured prominently for the U19s, captaining the latter team against Atletico Madrid despite being one of the youngest players in the squad.
Owing to his international commitments and the intermittent U21 schedule, Salmon has only made eleven appearances for Arsenal across all age groups this season but he has often impressed when called upon.
Salmon has had to be patient for competitive first-team action and at 16 he still has plenty of time on his side but he will be eager to take any chance that he is given.
The prospect reads the game extremely well and has much confidence in possession while he is also strong aerially.
Furthermore, Salmon’s passing is often of a high standard and he isn’t afraid to give attackers space to run into as he knows that he will usually get the better of them in individual duels.
There are still occasions when he can be caught out and it is inevitable that a defender of his age will make some errors.
Overall, though, the signs have been very encouraging and Salmon will look to continue developing well in the second half of the season.
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