After missing out on last season's Champions League places by just one point, Arsenal's preparations for the upcoming campaign have already begun. The Gunners are currently away in Germany where they are in the middle of a pre-season training camp at Adidas HQ in Nuremberg.
The trip has so far seen signings Matt Turner, Marquinhos and Gabriel Jesus all look to impress their new teammates ahead of Friday's friendly with FC Nurnberg. There had been hopes that further fresh additions could join them, with Youri Tielemans, Raphinha and Lisandro Martinez among the players being linked, but that is now highly unlikely.
This gives some of the Gunners youngsters a chance to impress Mikel Arteta, with many of the players who were away on international duty not back yet from their holidays. One of those who is already catching the eye is Charlie Patino.
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The 18-year-old rose quickly to the attention of Arsenal fans last season after scoring on his debut in the Carabao Cup quarter-final victory over Sunderland in December. He is one of the most highly rated prospects in the current under-23s group and has been compared to fellow Hale Ender Jack Wilshere due to his style.
The debut against Sunderland saw hype around him skyrocket, but ever since, people at the club have been keen to protect Patino from overexposure. One of those is Mikel Arteta, who wants to take his time with the youngster.
"Now we have to cook him slowly," the Spaniard said back in December. "Today was a good start, I think. That [hype] is what we have to avoid. He still has a lot of competition in front of him. He is really young. And he needs to go step by step."
Patino went on to make his first start in the FA Cup third round defeat to Nottingham Forest. Since then though he has failed to obtain any senior minutes, in part due to the lack of cup matches Arsenal played in the second half of last season, but also due to an injury he sustained.
He has since spent the summer working on his physicality in order to prepare himself for the step up from under-23s to first team football in the coming season. With Arsenal back in the Europa League, the group stage games in particular offer Patino a chance for further senior exposure, and the Gunners appear to have dropped a hint that he could be involved in the first team set-up a little more for the coming season.
Last season Patino wore the No. 87 shirtwhen playing for the first team, but this year he appears to have been given a new number. The 18-year-old was spotted wearing a training kit with the number 35 on it as Arsenal toured through the archive at Adidas HQ in Nuremberg. The shirt was vacated this summer after Gabriel Martinelli took up the number 11 and could be a sign that Patino is set for more senior involvement in the coming year.
It should be said that the numbers players wear in pre-season are not always necessarily an indication of what they'll be sporting in the coming campaign. But with Patino unlikely to head out on loan this summer, it does seem possible that we could see him involved more in Arteta' first team set up this season.
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