Arsenal’s Ceadach O’Neill made his senior international debut for Northern Ireland today as he came on as a substitute against Guinea.

The versatile youngster, who can play up front, as an attacking midfielder or out wide, was deployed on the left wing after entering the fray in the 64th minute.

O’Neill, 18, was a lively presence and had an effort saved.

Northern Ireland prevailed with a 1-0 victory courtesy of an early goal from Tom Atcheson but ended the game with ten men following the dismissal of the same player.

O’Neill will hope to feature in some capacity when Northern Ireland face France on Monday.

The youngster was named on the bench for the Arsenal first-team last season for FA Cup fixtures against Wigan Athletic and Southampton.

He made four senior appearances for his previous club Linfield prior to signing for Arsenal in 2024.

Following the announcement of this year’s released list, we have a clearer indication as to what Arsenal’s U21 squad could look like next season.

In comparison to this time last year, Arsenal will have a larger amount of players to choose from at this level although some of the older individuals could be contenders for moves elsewhere.

This list doesn’t take include Tommy Setford and Max Dowman, who are part of the first-team squad.

Expected U21 squad (* – offered professional contract, ^ – still eligible for U18s)

Goalkeepers – Mitchell, Nygaard, Ranson, Porter

Defenders – Clarke, Dixon, Washington, Ogunnaike*, Salmon^

Midfielders – Agustien, Copley, Ibrahim, Julienne, Marciniak*

Attackers – Harriman-Annous, Kabia, Mooney, O’Neill, Stevens, Zecevic John

Of those listed above, Salmon could be set for further first-team involvement of some description, whether at Arsenal or on loan.

The likes of Kabia, Copley and Nygaard will be back from loan spells but may be candidates for further temporary spells elsewhere or perhaps even a permanent move.

Remy Mitchell could frequently train with the first-team if he stays at the club and winger Archie Stevens, 20, may be looking for a loan move. Brayden Clarke could also potentially go on loan.

Potential U21 lineup

Ranson

Porter

Dixon-Hamill^-Ogunnaike*-Washington

King^-Owusu Gyasi^-Stachow^-Tahou^

Ibrahim-Julienne

Murisa^-Hashi^

Agustien

Emerson Nwaneri^

O’Neill-Mooney-Harriman Annous

Bailey Joseph^-Zecevic John-Marciniak*

Other options: B. Phillips^, Sampang^, Talbot^, Nduka^, Pedro^, Thompson^

Arsenal have offered contracts to second year scholars Josh Ogunnaike and Alex Marciniak, the club have confirmed.

Ogunnaike, who can play at left-back or centre-back, trained prominently with the first-team in the second half of the season and also featured for the U21s.

Wales youth international Marciniak is capable of playing as a winger or attacking midfielder and was involved with the U21s at times this season.

Arsenal have confirmed that a host of academy players will depart when their contracts expire at the end of this month including goalkeeper Alexei Rojas.

Midfielder Harrison Dudziak is also set to leave along with winger Seb Ferdinand and defenders Cam’ron Ismail and Will Sweet.

Centre-back Samuel Onyekachukwu will also depart as he wasn’t offered a professional contract.

Rojas trained with the first-team on many occasions and was named on the bench against Bolton in the Carabao Cup in 2024 and Slavia Prague in the Champions League this season.

Dudziak also received first-team recognition as he was listed amongst the substitutes against Sporting this season. He also spent time on loan at Braintree Town.

Left-back Ismail strangely didn’t feature at all for the U21s this season after signing a professional contract but he did spent time with Uxbridge during a loan spell.

Centre-back Sweet was another player who experienced senior football during a loan spell at Dagenham & Redbridge.

Ferdinand trained with the first-team frequently and played over 30 times for the U21s.

Onyekachukwu featured twice for the U21s and was heavily involved for the U18s.

The previously announced departures of Josh Nichols and Sam Chapman have also been confirmed by the club.

It emerged this week that right-back Nichols has signed for NK Kustosija in Croatia.

Chapman has signed for Georgia Southern University after his scholarship expired.

Goalkeeper Remy Mitchell seemingly remains under contract with the club.

If he is still at Arsenal next season then Mitchell would need to be named on the senior list in the club’s Premier League squad as he was born in 2004.

Croatian club NK Kustosija have confirmed that they will sign Arsenal defender Josh Nichols on July 1st, with the news also being reported by Fabrizio Romano.

Nichols, who made his only competitive senior appearance for Arsenal against Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup in 2024, is set to see his contract with the Gunners expire at the end of this month.

The right-back was part of the club’s Hale End academy for many years before progressing to scholarship terms in 2022 and then signing a professional contract two years later.

Over the past couple of seasons, Nichols has been named on the bench for the Arsenal first-team in the Premier League and the Champions League and was involved in two pre-season campaigns with the senior squad.

He made 40 appearances for Arsenal U21s and also featured prominently for the U21s and the U19s.

Marli Salmon was involved in Arsenal’s final training session of the season as Mikel Arteta’s team prepared for tomorrow night’s Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Although there may not be space on the bench for Salmon at the Puskas Arena, the fact that he has travelled with the squad for such a significant game at the age of 16 underlines just how highly regarded he is by the club’s coaching staff.

Salmon has made four senior appearances this season and has also featured prominently for the U21s and U19s, which has included wearing the captain’s armband for the academy at times.

It remains to be seen what lies in store for Salmon next season but further first-team involvement, whether at Arsenal or out on loan, seems very likely.

Tommy Setford made some good saves during the training drills, with Max Dowman also involved.

Marli Salmon has been selected to travel with the Arsenal first-team squad to Hungary ahead of the Champions League final, as confirmed by the club on Instagram.

Salmon has been very close to the senior squad throughout the campaign, especially in recent months.

Although it is unlikely that he will be named in the matchday squad against Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday it is still excellent experience for him to travel and train with the squad ahead of such an important fixture.

Salmon has made four senior appearances for Arsenal this season, which included featuring against Club Brugge in the Champions League.

The entire first-team squad will travel to Hungary, including the injured Ben White.

Jurrien Timber, who will be hoping to be fit enough to be included in the matchday squad, is also amongst those who will travel.

Goalkeeper Tommy Setford is set to be named amongst the substitutes along with Kepa.

If Timber is fit then a senior player, potentially Christian Norgaard or Gabriel Jesus, will have to be left out of the matchday squad.

Arsenal prospect Ceadach O’Neill has been named in the Northern Ireland senior squad for the first time.

O’Neill, 18, will be part of the Northern Ireland squad for their friendlies against Guinea and France next month.

A versatile player, O’Neill is capable of making an impact as a forward, a winger or a midfielder.

O’Neill joined Arsenal in 2024 having previously been at Linfield, for whom he made four senior appearances.

This season was hugely impressive for O’Neill, who was named on the bench for the Arsenal first-team for the FA Cup games against Wigan and Southampton.

He scored ten goals in 14 league appearances for the U18s this season and also found the net for the U21s and U19s.

On the international stage O’Neill has represented Northern Ireland at U21, U19, U17 and U16 levels.

Charles Sagoe Jr provided an assist and played 82 minutes as Kalmar FF beat Degerfors 2-1.

Reiss Nelson came on in the 89th minute as his loan spell at Brentford came to an end with a 1-1 draw against Liverpool.

Lucas Nygaard wasn’t involved as Brabrand were beaten 2-0 by Skive.

Max Dowman has returned to training with the Arsenal first-team squad ahead of the final game of the season away to Crystal Palace tomorrow.

Dowman missed training earlier this week due to GCSE exams but could feature against Palace, with Arsenal set to receive the Premier League trophy after the game at Selhurst Park.

Defender Marli Salmon continued to train with the first-team squad along with Marcell Washington, Evan Mooney, Theo Julienne and goalkeeper Khari Ranson.

Other players involved in training with the senior team included: Josh Ogunnaike, Andre Harriman-Annous, Harrison Dudziak, Ceadach O’Neill, Seb Ferdinand and Louie Copley.