Nigerian Youngsters Make Arsenal’s Pre-Season Squad
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has selected a handful of exciting future stars to attend the 2013 pre-season Asia Tour with Nigerian youngsters Chuba Akpom and Chuks Aneke included in a final travelling squad as confirmed on Arsenal’s official website.
Both stars with Nigerian descent join other starlets like Serge Gnabry, Kris Olsson and Gedion Zelalem who will rub shoulders with the likes of Jack Wilshere, Lukas Podolski and Mikel Arteta.
Missing names
There will be some notable absences however with Confederations Cup finalists Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal on holiday after this summer’s competition, and new signing Yaya Sanogo is set to face Uruguay in France’s Under-20 World Cup final.
The Gunners skipper Thomas Vermaelen has also been confirmed as receiving treatment on a back injury while Gervinho is suffering from a sickness and was left behind.
Stand-in skipper
Arteta is expected to captain the squad in the absence of injured club Vermaelen.
Full travelling party:
Mikel Arteta, Lukasz Fabianski, Kieran Gibbs, Olivier Giroud, Carl Jenkinson, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Ignasi Miquel, Ryo, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lukas Podolski, Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Wojciech Szczesny, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Serge Gnabry, Damian Martinez, Kris Olsson, Chuba Akpom, Thomas Eisfeld, Chuks Aneke, Gedion Zelalem
