Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and his squad have flown over to Dubai for a warm-weather training camp and young Taylor Foran has surprisingly received a call-up.
The Gunners need a break after what has been a dreadful January. Arteta’s men are yet to win a game in 2022 and to make things worse for the fans, they haven’t signed a player to strengthen their squad either.
The mood around the Emirates is not great at the moment, which is probably why Arsenal decided to leave London and travel over 4000 miles east to the UAE.
One player who will definitely enjoy the trip is 18-year-old Foran, who hasn’t ever played for the Arsenal first-team before.
Arteta calls up Taylor Foran to Arsenal first-team Dubai trip
To all the Arsenal fans who haven’t heard of Foran before, he’s the captain of the club’s under-18 team.
Born in 2003, Foran is a centre-half who has been impressing everyone at Hale End. The teenager has played 17 times in all competitions at youth level, mostly for the under-18s, and it’s only a matter of time before he becomes a regular in the under-23s setup as well.
The young defender took to Instagram and shared a couple of stories ahead of his trip to Dubai. He’s joined by fellow Arsenal wonderkid Charlie Patino, who, unlike Foran, has made a big name for himself already.
What happened in Foran’s under-23s debut?
Foran, who describes himself as an ‘extremely vocal‘ player, had a pretty wild under-23s debut last season.
The teenager was called up by Steve Bould for the very first time and he was named on the bench. However, after just nine minutes, goalkeeper Karl Hein got himself a red card. The Gunners had no other goalkeeper available on the day and Foran, a central defender, was forced to slot in between the sticks.
It wasn’t really a fairytale ending for the youngster, whose side were beaten 4-1 by Manchester City. However, it’s surely an incredible experience and it shows that he’s ready to play wherever the team needs him.
That’s probably why Arteta decided to take him along to Dubai with the first-team squad.
