Highly rated 16-year-old now trains with Arsenal first-team ahead of Atalanta Champions League clash

Arsenal are set to travel to Bergamo to face Atalanta in their Champions League opener, and a large roster of players could make the trip.

Arsenal have already confirmed their 25-man List A squad for the upcoming campaign, but the night before each game, they can register any youth team players they would like to include in the squad.

This could include midfielder Ethan Nwaneri, who is in line to start against Atalanta with Martin Odegaard still yet to return to training, but several of his academy teammates could be joining him.

Deadline day goalkeeper signing Neto will travel as a backup to David Raya, but several younger options could also make the trip as extra backups, with summer signing Tommy Setford potentially included on the bench.

One of Arsenal’s best youth team prospects has now trained with the first-team as a result, in a landmark moment for him.

Arsenal goalkeeping prospect Jack Porter trains with first-team

Several youth team players trained with the first-team ahead of the Atalanta clash, and this included 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Porter.

Porter has already made six appearances for the under-18 team, conceding 12 goals and keeping one clean sheet, but these stats do not tell the full story.

Youth team expert Jeorge Bird has claimed that Porter is one of the best prospects the Arsenal academy have seen in the goalkeeping position in a long time.

“Haven’t seen a 16-year-old goalkeeper as highly rated by the club as Porter for a long time. Maybe Arthur Okonkwo, but even he wasn’t involved with the first-team this often at that age,” he posted on X.

Training alongside top-class goalkeepers such as Raya and Neto before a Champions League tie will provide invaluable experience for Porter, who will hope to be included more often as the season progresses.

Which youth team players trained with Arsenal before Atalanta tie?

Porter was not the only youth goalkeeper involved in training, as Alexei Rojas also joined the session alongside Setford.

Midfielders Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ife Ibrahim were part of the training session, as was Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, who won the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award.

Even if these youngsters do not make the matchday squad against Atalanta, being involved in the preparations for such a big game for Mikel Arteta’s side will be useful for them, and they will hope to make the trip in some capacity.