Arsenal didn’t play particularly well against Atalanta in their Champions League opener, but one of their players still managed to break a record.
The Gunners looked lost in the final third in Martin Odegaard’s absence, and they just couldn’t create as many chances as they would’ve liked.
However, Arsenal were once again solid defensively, and David Raya’s ‘unbelievable’ performance in goal forced Atalanta to settle for a draw.
Mikel Arteta had six academy players on the bench on Thursday night. One of them has made his way into the history books.
Arsenal’s Jack Porter breaks UEFA Champions League record
Jack Porter was spotted in Arsenal training ahead of their Champions League clash against Atalanta.
The young goalkeeper is just 16 years old. He joined the Gunners’ academy in 2020 and was officially confirmed as a first-team scholar in July.
Despite his age, Porter has already played for the Arsenal U18s and has impressed. He has often been spotted in first-team training sessions too, which is rare for a 16-year-old goalkeeper.
Nobody really expected to see Porter in Arsenal’s senior matchday squad for the game against Atalanta, but the youngster got the nod from Arteta.
Unsurprisingly, Porter remained an unused substitute, just like his five other academy mates, but the teenager managed to break a big record.
James McNicholas revealed on X that Porter is now the youngest-ever goalkeeper to be in a Champions League matchday squad. He has set the record at 16 years and two months of age.
That is an outstanding achievement, and it will be interesting to see how he will develop in the club’s academy in the coming years.
The five other Arsenal wonderkids who were in the squad vs Atalanta
Arsenal are dealing with a number of injuries at the moment.
The likes of Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mikel Merino, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney all missed the Champions League game in Bergamo on Thursday night.
That opened the door for several youngsters to make the squad, and along with Porter, Arteta had Ethan Nwaneri, Jimi Gower, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji on the bench.
All six of the above players are highly rated behind the scenes at Arsenal, and there’s every chance a few of them will become first-team stars in the coming years.
We expect at least a couple of them to get a chance against Bolton in the League Cup.
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