Arsenal have belatedly confirmed that defensive-midfielder Glen Kamara and goalkeeper Josh Vickers have signed their first professional contracts with the club.
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Both players started every game of the run to the Semi-Finals of the FA Youth Cup last season, with Kamara particularly catching the eye in the second-leg defeat to Chelsea at Emirates Stadium. A player who has developed impressively since joining from Southend United in 2012, he has been capped by Finland at U21 level and has also made 12 appearances for Arsenal at that age group.
Vickers, meanwhile, made several outstanding saves in the Youth Cup, turning in a man-of-the-match display away to Charlton Athletic, and the commanding shot-stopper spent the majority of the campaign on loan at non-league side Canvey Island, for whom he was a regular.
Kamara will seek to establish himself as the midfield lynchpin for the U21 side this season, particularly if Isaac Hayden goes on loan, but Vickers has a fight on his hands for regular action, with Damian Martinez, Matt Macey and Deyan Iliev all currently ahead of him in the club’s goalkeeping hierarchy.
Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth 
Harder to tell with the keepers where they stand in clubs estimations. Rotation seemed the order of the day last year, and I suppose that makes some sense.
Would surprise me if he’s behind the others as he really looked the business the few times I saw him. Made good saves and, even more important for a keeper, seemed composed.
Hope it goes well with Kamara. Looks promising, and is definitely the type of midfielder we have sorely missed at times. If I remember rightly, he and Hayden were both missing for Barca game and it seemed to cost us.
The Jonker appointment looks more interesting than ever. Couple of books I read recently, including Bergkamps, have been heavy on Van Gaal detail.
Jonker is a Van Gaal man; Van Gaal is supposedly all about systems and tactics; Arsene is more on the Bergkamp/Cruyff side of the divide (according to that Bergkamp book there is a huge divide between Van Gall and Cruyff/Bergkamp), concerned with getting good players and letting them express themselves.
So…how will it work? Reasonable chance it won’t, especially now Van Gaal is here and likely to be open to working with Jonker again (believe he might be with the Dutch team right now).
JB – any news on iliev’s move to mechelen? One would expect it will be huddart and keto for the u18s with macey and vickers for u21. Martinez getting promoted to 3rd choice? Although with him it would mean him taking a place in the 25 so perhaps macey will get 3rd choice and martinez go on loan leaving iliev in the u21s
What’s your opinion?
One final thing have smith, oconnor and wright been training with the u21s or the u18s? Only I see that the other 2nd years crowley and maitland-niles were with u21s ahead of signing pro in august but didn’t see the other 3 or any of the keepers come to that??
All of the second years have been training with the U21s for now, but those that you mentioned are likely to go back to the U18s when the season starts. I think it would be better to let Iliev leave.
Perhaps you need a good grounding and understanding of tactics and playing in a system first, to understand the time and place for self expression?