More on the under-16s and news round-up

Arsenal u-16s may have been the victims of a 4-0 defeat by Norwich City on Saturday morning, but that performance wasn’t like them at all. Norwich have one of the best u-16 sides in the country and Arsenal were without their captain Conor Henderson, as well as Sam Byles who were on the bench for the u-18s. Here’s a look at some of the brightest prospects from this level.

Benik Afobe heads a long list of potential superstars

Benik Afobe 

Benik has come to many Arsenal fans attention due to his impressive scoring record for the u-16s this season. His pace and strength are his main attributes and he will be looking to push on to the u-18s next term.

Chucks Aneke

Chucks may not be as well known as Benik Afobe, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a decent footballer. A central midfielder, he is capable of breaking up attacks as well as releasing team mates.

Rorie Deacon

Having agreed to sign scholarship forms in the summer, Rorie will finish this season playing for the u-16s. His long balls are always a threat and he has come close to scoring a few times in recent weeks.

Ben Glasgow 

Full-back Ben made his u-16s debut this season and will be looking to continue his development in 2008/9

George Brisnal

Attacking full-back George Brisnal is a tough tackling, no-nonsense player who loves to get forward and has scored for the u-16s this season.

Charlie Mann

As revealed exclusively on this blog, Charlie is set to be the u-16s no.1 goalie next season and has been likened to Kasper Schemichel.

Jeffrey Monakana

Jeffrey has risen through the Hale End academy system and is now heavily involved in the u-16s. You can read more on him here.

Rhema Obed

Centre-half Rhema has forged a solid partnership with Oliver Nicholas at the back and has represented England at youth level.

So there you have it, and there are many more beyond that but I can’t list them all.

 Note that the list doesn’t include players who have played for the u-18s such as Cedric Evina, Luke Freeman, Oliver Nicholas, Jonas Rasmussen, Sam Byles and Conor Henderson. Nor does it feature players set to be released such as Ahmed Abdulla and Nico Yennaris.

With no more matches until the weekend, here’s a summary of the latest news stories concerning the Arsenal youngsters.

A couple of other stories today:

Mark Randall talks about life at Burnley

The reserve game with West Ham has been re-arranged.

Thanks for reading and there’ll be more tomorrow.