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Where are they now? Arsenal’s 49 League Cup youngsters since 2007

Arsene Wenger always looked to promote youth at Arsenal, but not every young player he gave a chance to managed to establish themselves.

Ashley Cole and Cesc Fabregas are the two most high-profile players who Wenger gave a debut to during his time in charge of Arsenal – both in the League Cup.

We’ve looked at the 49 youngsters to have represented the Gunners in the competition since 2007 to see how their careers progressed.

Armand Traore
We just assumed Traore would be onto his 12th club by now. He’s actually only onto his fifth: Nottingham Forest.

Justin Hoyte
Now playing for FC Cincinnati having previously been trolled online for appearing in an Arsenal Legends XI.

Denilson
Back at Abu Dhabi-based club Al Wahda after a loan spell at Cruzeiro was terminated. It’s really not gone well.

Henri Lansbury
After numerous loan spells away from Arsenal, Lansbury has established himself as one of the better midfielders in the Championship for Nottingham Forest and now Aston Villa.

Nacer Barazite
The attacking midfielder now plays alongside Aly Cissokho at Turkish side Yeni Malatyaspor. He’s also grown a big beard. We were big fans of him on Football Manager 2008.

Mark Randall
Hang on a minute, Mark Randall spent a season at Ascoli? Bloody hell. He now plays for Crawley Town. But Ascoli? We’re well into that.

Matthew Connolly
The defender has spent the last five years at Cardiff, but he’s never played for Ascoli, so we’re not arsed.

Fran Merida
Has the name of an excellent Spanish midfielder and the career of an average Spanish midfielder. Osasuna, second division, three goals this season. Sound.

Jay Simpson
Having played for a number of English clubs, and Buriram United in Thailand, the impressively unprolific striker now plays for Philadelphia Union in the MLS.

Carlos Vela
Always tantalised in the League Cup before establishing himself at Real Sociedad. Vela has become the first marquee signing for Los Angeles FC.

READ: Will Ferrell, Bob Bradley, Carlos Vela and the story of LAFC, MLS’ newest club

Amaury Bischoff
Will Unwin would like to speak to you, Amaury.

Rui Fonte
The forward has a decent CV having being signed by Sporting Lisbon, Espanyol and Benfica, and the attacker now plays for Fulham.

Paul Rodgers
No.55 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest singers of all time thanks to his work with Free and Bad Company. Also turns out for non-league Kingstonian.

Gavin Hoyte
CLICKBAIT: You can read all about Gavin Hoyte’s career here.

READ: The story of Gavin Hoyte and his one Premier League game for Arsenal

Kerrea Gilbert
Not played since a spell with St Albans City in 2014.

Gilles Sunu
We’ve just put his name in Twitter and someone has posted in French: “I think that big c*cksucker was wrong, he actually talks about Gilles Sunu, everyone has understood.” Anyway, he currently players for Angers in Ligue 1.

Sanchez Watt
A proud member of the Leeds United loan 100, Watt marked his Arsenal debut with a goal and is now part of that disparate bunch at Billericay Town.

Craig Eastmond
The midfielder can now be found at Sutton United, and spent his Boxing Day scoring twice in a 4-0 victory over Boreham Wood.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas
Frozen out at QPR, where he hasn’t even been given a squad number. Ouch.

Ignasi Miquel
Eventually had to drop into Spain’s second tier but made his La Liga debut for Malaga earlier this month.

Emmanuel Frimpong
Now turning out in Cyprus for Ermis Aradippou, we refuse to believe Frimpong is still only 25. We absolutely believe he’s still dench.

Chu-Young Park
Park wasn’t even a young player when he surprisingly joined Arsenal, but scored his only goal for the club in the League Cup. He’s somewhat more prolific for FC Seoul.

Ryo Miyaichi
Another Football Manager gem. One Bolton Player of the Month award aside, Miyaichi has failed to fulfill his potential and is currently recovering from a serious injury at cult club FC St Pauli.

Chuks Aneke
Starting to find some form at MK Dons, for whom he has scored six goals and registered six assists in 17 appearances this season.

Oguzhan Ozyakup
Ozyakup has been linked with a return to Arsenal amid reported interest from Everton after impressing with Besiktas.

Nico Yennaris
Injuries appeared to threaten Yennaris’ career but the midfielder was ever-present in 49 matches for Brentford last season.

Daniel Boateng
We spoke to Boateng in an illuminating interview back in October.

READ: The Londoner who played for Arsenal then couldn’t face the lower leagues

Emiliano Martinez
The goalkeeper has played 13 times for Arsenal in all competitions but a loan spell with Getafe has so far reaped just one appearance this term.

Martin Angha
We have no shame in admitting we have no recollection of Angha’s name whatsoever. The defender claimed to have rejected Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich to join Arsenal. He now plays for FC Sion.

Serge Gnabry
Probably a mistake to let him go, given he now plays for Bayern Munich and Germany. Okay, he’s technically on loan at Hoffenheim. But still.

Thomas Eisfeld
Arsenal had high hopes for Eisfeld after signing the midfielder from Borussia Dortmund, but he has spent the last two years at Bochum following an underwhelming spell at Fulham.

Jernade Meade
The left-back now plays for Swedish second tier outfit AFC Eskilstuna, managed by Englishman Micheal Jolley, which has ‘Will Unwin interview’ written all over it.

Isaac Hayden
Dropped down a division to play for Hull and Newcastle and now back in the Premier League with the latter.

Chuba Akpom
Still on the fringes at Arsenal but has the distinction of being named the MVP in a match against the MLS All Stars in 2016.

Hector Bellerin
Now Arsenal’s first-choice right-back and Jeremy Corbyn’s mate. Seems like a nice lad.

Kristoffer Olsson
A scorer in a penalty shootout victory over West Brom, Olsson left Arsenal for FC Midtjylland and is now back in his native country with AIK.

Glen Kamara
One appearance. One 3-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. Now plays for Dundee.

Krystian Bielik
Still only 19, Bielik remains on Arsenal’s books after a difficult, but possibly invaluable, loan spell at Birmingham last term.

Ismael Bennacer
Handed his one appearance for Arsenal after Theo Walcott, who had replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after only five minutes, also had to go off injured on the 19 minute mark. Bennacer can now be found at Empoli.

Alex Iwobi
Proof that if you play the full 90 minutes in a 3-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday you can still become an established Premier League player.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles
A right-footed midfielder who has recently enjoyed a spell as Arsene Wenger’s preferred option at left-back.

Jeff Reine-Adeleide
We’ve just found a tweet which describes him as having “legs of velvet”. Also deserves credit for being called Jeff.

Gedion Zelalem
Born in Germany to Ethiopian parents and one of the big hopes of the US national team, Zelalem signed a new Arsenal deal in January before going out on loan to help VVV-Venlo win the Dutch second tier.

Joe Willock
Signed a new long-term contract at Arsenal in November after breaking into the first team this season.

Josh Dasilva
Primarily used as a striker in Arsenal’s academy, Dasilva was converted into a midfielder by Thierry Henry and made his debut earlier this season by coming off the bench to slot into defence.

Reiss Nelson
The boy looks pretty special.

Eddie Nketiah
A later equaliser against Norwich 15 seconds into his Arsenal debut, followed by an extra-time winner, was a good start to life in first-team football.

Matt Macey
With Martinez out on loan, Macey has stepped into the role as Arsenal’s third-choice stopper.

Ben Sheaf
Another youngster to be rewarded with a new deal after making his debut this season.


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