‘Brilliant’ Arsenal 19-year-old is now training with the first team ahead of Brentford

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Arsenal youngster James Sweet has now been training with Mikel Arteta’s first team ahead of a trip to Brentford in the EFL Cup.

That’s via journalist Jeorge Bird who covers Arsenal’s academy sides closely on X.

The right-back can be seen training with the first team alongside the likes of Lino Sousa, Reuell Walters, Jimi Gower and Charles Sagoe Jr.

Of course, Arsenal are already experiencing something of an injury crisis so it’s no surprise to see youngsters called up.

Moreover, Sweet among others will hope to take a seat on the Arsenal bench for the visit to Brentford.

Several first team Arsenal players are likely to miss out including Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.

And therefore opportunities may be afforded to budding academy talents.

Of course, the path to the first team for Arsenal’s Hale End graduates has been on the mind for Arsenal fans recently.

Although fans are enjoying Arsenal’s rise to becoming an elite side under Mikel Arteta, that does bring concerns over the gap to the academy.

It’s now harder for the likes of ‘brilliant‘ Sweet to make the leap.

Sweet in Arsenal training ahead of Brentford

However, Arteta and Edu Gaspar’s late work in the summer transfer window should allay some of those fears.

Arsenal were able to successfully offload several unwanted players towards the end of the window.

And this squad-trimming does mean that academy players aren’t so far away in the pecking order now.

The likes of Sousa and Walters now have a very realistic prospect of making first team minutes across the season.

And this is a healthy scenario, Arsenal’s academy is part of the club’s DNA.

Whilst there’s no guarantee that the likes of Sweet will be in tonight’s Arsenal squad travelling to Brentford, he is still gaining valuable experience with the seniors.