After Max Dowman, Arsenal now have another young Hale End star with first team plans

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Fortunately for Arsenal, the club’s success under Mikel Arteta is now being underpinned by Hale End academy talent.

Over the past 18 months or so, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Max Dowman have all made their way into the Arsenal first team.

Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly in particular were crucial last season when Arteta was dealing with injuries – both came in and played important first team roles, demonstrating maturity beyond their years.

Lewis-Skelly starred against Real Madrid in a Champions League quarter-final for example, and it was a proud season for the club’s academy.

But in terms of the club’s first team path from the academy as a whole, there might still be work to do in order to ensure that it’s not just the elite young talent that make it into Arteta’s plans.

Ife Ibrahim is beginning to show his rich potential at Arsenal

In terms of excellent young players in Arsenal’s academy right now, 17-year-old midfielder Ife Ibrahim is now beginning to show his ability.

A talented defensive midfielder, Ibrahim has started the new Premier League 2 season extremely well and has been called up by England U18s during the upcoming international break.

Clips of Ibrahim’s defence-splitting passes are also now often being shared on social media – his reputation among the Arsenal fan base is growing.

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In terms of what Ibrahim offers, he often likes to combine with centre-backs in deep areas, and he’s good at shielding the ball in those positions.

Moreover, the youngster also deserves praise for keeping it simple at times, occasionally dropping in the odd progressive pass.

And whilst Ibrahim is a promising talent, he’s not quite at the level of Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly or Dowman, and in fairness, not many are.

But he’s certainly a player who can be important for Arsenal’s set-up, explaining why Ibrahim has trained with Arteta’s first-team more than once.

Ife Ibrahim could be long-term cover for Christian Norgaard

In terms of what role Ibrahim could eventually play for Arsenal were he to establish himself in Arteta’s first team, he might one day be able to play a similar role to Christian Norgaard.

Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice aside, it appears as if Norgaard is currently Arteta’s third-choice defensive midfielder.

The Danish international is incredibly experienced, and he offers a pretty unique profile to Arteta, who will have been so happy to welcome him to the club.

And although Ibrahim is at a completely different stage of his career, perhaps he could represent long-term cover for Norgaard.

At 31 years old, Norgaard signed a two-year contract with Arsenal including an option for a further year.

And perhaps towards the end of that deal, Ibrahim might have flourished into a talent who can assist Arteta on the odd occasion.