While Arsenal fans had their sights set on high profile moves for Dusan Vlahovic and Arthur, one January signing that went under the radar was that of Lino Sousa from West Brom. The youngster arrived in North London as one of the most highly rated left backs in England and has so far done a good job of living up to that hype.
In a short space of time he has broken in to the under-23 side, catching the eye with two goals in four appearances, including one strike in a Premier League 2 clash against Manchester City at the Emirates. At international level meanwhile he has been rewarded for his displays at Arsenal with the chance to captain the England under-17s in their match with the USA this month.
His performances have been so impressive that he is now being touted to take over as the starting left back next season for the under-23s after the Gunners made the decision to let Spanish youth international Joel Lopez leave this summer. When looking at this lengthy list of accomplishments it's remarkable to note that Sousa is still only 17 years of age. Despite having achieved so much in such a short space of time though, his time with Arsenal has been the culmination of a long journey.
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It began when he was just five-years-old and living in Portugal. Sousa idolised his older cousin who was a futsal player for Benfica, and keen to follow in his footsteps, he began doing the same and getting an early taste for the vibrant attacking flare that is still visible in his game today.
However, it was not until much later that a stroke of luck would see Sousa swap futsal's hard indoor surface for the grassy turf of a football pitch. His family moved from Lisbon to Wolverhampton when Sousa was eight-years-of-age, and it was while kicking a can down the road that his destiny would be shaped for years to come. What may have appeared an innocuous act to most struck a chord with Sousa's uncle who marvelled at his young nephew's technique when striking the can. He immediately set about convincing Sousa's mother to let him join a Sunday league team and it wasn't long before he was a regular for Ash Fire FC.
Eight months later he was offered a trial at West Brom and it wasn't long before he was rising up the age groups for the Baggies. At the age of 10 he was put in with the under-12s before establishing himself as a regular for their under-18s by the time he was just 16 and even featuring in a friendly for the under-23s. Unsurprisingly it was not long before other teams began to sit up and take notice.
A whole host of clubs from across the Premier League and Europe threw their hat into the ring to sign the attacking full back, but it was Arsenal who came out on top. What swung it was a presentation from Head of Talent ID Lee Herron and Head Of Emerging Talent (U17 - U23) Yousuf Sajjad who knew the player from back to front after months of watching him, and were able to convince Sousa of a pathway to the first team that he may not have been able to get at other clubs.
As mentioned previously, Sousa has impressed since arriving, but it was not as simple as just coming in and hitting the ground running. By the time he arrived in January, the 17-year-old had missed six months of football as Arsenal sought to clear his move with the Premier League.
Fearing the risk of overloading him, the Gunners began to ease Sousa in with a few games for the under-18s to allow him to get up to speed with their style of play. After such a long period out, he would have been forgiven for being a little rusty, but the speed of the England under-17 international's adaptation to life in North London has impressed many.
"It's come on greatly," former under-23s coach Kevin Betsy told football.london of Sousa's tactical development in April. "Lino hadn’t played for six months before he joined us. That’s a long period of time to be out of football for anyone, especially a development player. Then he’s come in and we’ve managed to integrate him well, the periodisation in his training has been excellent, we managed to get him up to match speed and he’s performed well to a good level.
"Tactically there’s a lot of differences from where he’s been playing before and what they’ve asked him to do. They developed him very well, but it’s just a different style. We need to keep using the matches as training. It’s not just a case of in a match you let them get on with it and they’re going to know everything, we train them in the match as well. All these little things he’ll improve and develop. He scored last time he was here and had some good actions today. Lots of things to improve and he’s been a good signing."
Betsy has since moved on from Arsenal to become the first team manager at Crawley Town, taking under-18s coach Dan Micciche along with him. Sousa though is not concerned about the uncertainty this has created around the under-23s going to next season. His representatives have revealed to football.london that while his connections with Betsy from his time at age group level with England had been a factor in the move, the 17-year-old came for the project at Arsenal rather than any particular coach, and is keen to push on next season.
The hope is that he will become a regular for the under-23s, but before that he may be set for a chance to impress at a higher level. Sousa has already been in and around the senior side on several occasions since arriving at Arsenal, training with Mikel Arteta's first team, and assisting Rob Holding for a goal in a behind closed doors friendly against Brentford B in March. There are some hopes that he could be included on the pre-season training camp in Germany and the tour to America next month.
For now though Sousa will enjoy some well-deserved rest after an enjoyable but intense first six months at Arsenal. With so many exciting things potentially in store next season, the 17-year-old left back may well need it.
