19-year-old Arsenal youngster admits £27m player went straight through him in first-team training

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Arsenal youngster Khayon Edwards has admitted that defender Gabriel Magalhaes gave him a very interesting welcome to first-team training.

Edwards was speaking on The Beautiful Game Podcast about his Arsenal career so far.

Mikel Arteta has made a habit of calling up young players to join the senior squad.

With pre-season already starting, defender Lino Sousa has already joined up with the first team.

Although not many of these players converted training with the senior side into first-team appearances, it’s still a good sign.

The most famous example last season was Ethan Nwaneri becoming the youngest-ever Premier League player against Brentford.

Khayon Edwards was another player who occasionally made the step-up last season.

He was included in two Europa League matchday squads and regularly worked with Mikel Arteta’s squad.

Edwards has admitted that Gabriel Magalhaes let him know he was there during training one day.

The £27m centre-back was taking no prisoners despite Edwards being a teenager.

It certainly let him know what to expect when he eventually makes his senior debut.

Edwards recalls Gabriel incident in first-team training

Asked about what it was like training with the senior squad, Edwards said: “It’s mad training with them, you’ve just got to make sure you’re always on it.

“Even though you’re young, they’ll get onto you if they need to. So, you’ve got to make sure everything is sharp.

“I’ll be honest there was one time where I was holding up the ball and Gabriel [Magalhaes] went straight through me.

“That’s when I knew I was here.”

Gabriel was one half of a very impressive centre-back pairing alongside William Saliba last season.

When the Frenchman picked up a season-ending injury, the Brazilian wasn’t at his best.

There’s even been talk of him potentially leaving this summer although that looks very unlikely.

Edwards might hope Gabriel does move on so he doesn’t have to deal with him in training going forward.

However, the 25-year-old is only preparing Edwards for what he’ll have to deal with when he eventually plays first-team football.

Given the money being spent elsewhere in the squad, Mikel Arteta won’t want to have to try and replace Gabriel as well.