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Alexandre Lacazette's absence from Arsenal training ahead of Saturday's clash against Southampton could open the door for a Premier League bow for one of the club's most promising youngsters.

After allowing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sead Kolasinac, Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Pablo Mari and Folarin Balogun to all depart in some capacity during the January transfer window, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta has been working with a slightly smaller squad ever since.

Whilst that has allowed him to name a settled side more often than not, the Spaniard is always an injury, Covid-19 absence, or a suspension away from not having the luxury of every Arsenal first-team player available for selection. This has been the case for every league game since the window closed, which has resulted in several academy starlets earning call ups to a Premier League matchday squad.

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Zach Awe and Zak Swanson have benefitted from Takehiro Tomiyasu's long lay off. Arteta has called up Omari Hutchinson, Marcelo Flores, Miguel Azeez and Mazeed Ogungbo in recent weeks to cover for some absentees. And following the training video released this week, Lacazette's absence from the session has brought about questions over his availability for Saturday which means the academy players will be on standby.

Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli are the obvious options to come