Mikel Arteta drafts in the youngsters for first-team Arsenal training

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta took first-team training today, with a number of youngsters joining in.

Several senior stars have headed off on international duty, prompting the Spaniard to involve some of the Gunners’ brightest prospects at London Colney.

From pictures that have emerged via the club today, it seems £450,000 summer signing Nikolaj Moller (Daily Mail) was present for the session.

Also there were midfielders Mauro Bandeira and Ben Cottrell, and winger Joel Idaho who, like Moller, joined the club in the summer.

Tim Akinola, Arthur Okonkwo, Catalin Cirjan, Joseph Olowu and Jonathan Dinyezi also participated (via Jeorge Bird’s Arsenal Youth).

It seems Arteta is very much on the lookout for players who may be able to make a difference to his first-team squad, which has struggled so far in 2020/21.

The Gunners sit 11th in the table on 12 points and are six points behind league-leaders Leicester.

One of the most concerning things for Arteta so far will be the lack of goals scored, and it may be that he places particular focus on Moller, who has really caught the eye since arriving at the club.

The big Swede has scored three goals and made one assist in his first three games.

It’s still early in the season, but if Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang don’t start finding the net more consistently, the promising Moller could find himself in with a chance of featuring for the first-team later down the line.