Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli have each been nominated to win Premier League young player of the year.
The Arsenal trio were instrumental in Mikel Arteta 's side mounting a surprise title challenge this season, although Manchester City are all but certain to lift the trophy. The three youngsters have enjoyed outstanding individual campaigns, with Norwegian captain Odegaard leading the Gunners thanks to a series of consistently excellent displays in the No.10 role.
England international Saka, who alongside Odegaard has also been nominated for the overall player of the year award, has been devastating on the right flank, registering 13 goals and 11 assists. On the left, Martinelli, who's been ruled out of their final two games of the season, boasts a total of 20 goal involvements in a true coming-of-age season for the Brazilian forward.
They'll all compete for the prize against Newcastle duo Sven Botman and Alexander Isak, both in their debut Premier League campaigns, Brighton pair Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister and, of course, Man City sensation Erling Haaland. The clear favourite for both the young and overall award, Halaand has scored a record-breaking 36 league goals.
In the 23 or under category, Saka is second favourite behind Haaland and on the cusp of becoming a global superstar. The good news for Arsenal fans is that boss Arteta - nominated for manager of the season - still believes there's more to come from the Gunners academy graduate, although he'll have to deal with even more pressure over the next few years.
"He's going to have to deal with expectations of the media, with attention on the pitch," Arteta declared in March. "When you want to fulfil a role like the one he has at the moment, you need to be capable of doing that. So don't read too much, don’t listen too much, just focus on what you have to do every day. That's it."
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Arteta went on to say: "He still has a lot of things to improve and a lot of things to maintain. Before he wasn't able to do that. So he needs to continue to maintain those things and elevate the level of other things that he can still do better."
Having already extended Martinelli's contract in February, Saka is also understood to have signed a new deal with Arsenal until 2028. The only one of the three left to tie down on a long-term basis is Odegaard, whose current contract expires in two years' time.
The Evening Standard claim that the 24-year-old midfielder - who was 23 at the start of the term - will soon be offered a new deal, as the Gunners have been working hard behind the scenes for the last few months to set Arteta's side up for the future. Odegaard's 15 goals and seven assists have been vital in keeping Arsenal in title race for so long, but next year they'll hope to do one better.
