These kids are more than all right as London’s talent takes centre stage

 
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Some of London’s brightest emerging talents meet in Italy on Friday, when Arsenal face Chelsea in the youth equivalent of the Champions League.

Both teams have reached the semi-finals of the NextGen Series in Como and the winners will play either Aston Villa or Sporting Lisbon in Monday’s final there. In just three years, the tournament has established itself as the pinnacle of Under-19 club football.

The competition showcases the next era of gifted young players from 24 clubs, including Barcelona, Ajax and Manchester City. Arsenal have knocked out CSKA Moscow and holders Inter Milan, while Chelsea saw off Juventus 4-1.

NextGen is a breeding ground for players hoping to make the grade in the Premier League and its first success story was England Under-21 midfielder Gary Gardner, who captained Aston Villa last year before breaking into the first team.

Raheem Sterling starred during Liverpool’s run to the semi-finals last season, while Celtic’s Tony Watt played against Barcelona less than 12 months before scoring against them in the Champions League.

Standard Sport picks out three players to watch from London’s two semi-finalists:

Arsenal

Nico Yennaris: Arsenal’s captain is a versatile midfielder who has been heavily involved in Arsene Wenger’s first-team set-up this season. The 19-year-old made his Premier League debut against Manchester United last season and is highly regarded by Wenger, who has used him at right-back. A product of the club’s youth academy, Yennaris was the mascot for a game at Highbury in September 2000.

Serge Gnabry: A pacy forward, Gnabry signed from Stuttgart for £100,000 in 2011 and became Arsenal’s third‑youngest Premier League player behind Jack Wilshere and Cesc Fabregas when he made his debut against Norwich last October. The 17-year-old, a Germany youth international, scored the winner against CSKA Moscow in Monday’s quarter-final.

Thomas Eisfeld: An intelligent midfielder who joined from Borussia Dortmund last January. The 20-year-old scored twice during last summer’s pre-season tour of Asia and made his Arsenal debut against Reading in the Capital One Cup this season. Another Germany youth international, Eisfel has a knack of scoring goals with clever runs into the box from midfield.

Chelsea

Islam Feruz: The 17-year-old striker has great pace to run in behind the back four and is a fine finisher, as his six goals in seven NextGen starts for Chelsea this term proves. But he is also making an impact on the international scene, having been called up for Scotland’s Under-21s. His two goals against Portugal in November led Scottish Football Association performance director Mark Wotte to compare him to Brazil legend Romario.

Lewis Baker: As the son of former world champion powerlifter Audley Baker, perhaps it was inevitable the midfielder would have the strength to make his mark at Chelsea. The 17-year-old showed his ability with both feet by scoring two fine goals in the quarter-final win over Juventus and he also played a key role in Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup triumph last season.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek: Has recently been in the headlines for being at the centre of a row between two agents but it’s on the pitch where he is getting noticed for all the right reasons. It says a lot for his ability that Chelsea are reportedly already paying him a contract worth £1.7million a season. The 17‑year-old midfielder is being tipped to force his way into the first-team squad at Stamford Bridge.

All games will be broadcast LIVE on Eurosport. Details as follows:

March 29: Chelsea v Arsenal (15.00 CET) – Eurosport2 (repeated 18.30 CET – Eurosport); Aston Villa v Sporting CP (20.00 CET) – Eurosport

April 1: – FINAL (18.00 CET) – Eurosport

All matches are being held at Calcio Como’s Stadio G Sinigaglia in Italy.

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