18-year-old Arsenal youngster Alfie Matthews played his best season so far… until, at least, the Under-18 season was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. Since then, the closest he got to football – like most of us, by the way – was playing Football Star at the Vegas Palms Casino. But now that football is finally returning, and Gunners’ head coach seems to be giving youngsters a chance to shine with the first team, Matthews seems to be looking for a brighter future at another team. At least this is what one of his recent posts on Instagram seems to suggest.
A great season
Matthews had a great season this year – until it lasted, that is. The 18-year-old striker has shown flashes of his talent during the U-18 Premier League matches he played, scoring five times in 15 league matches – far more than his previous season when he only played in eight.
Matthews is a versatile player who can play as a centre-forward and anywhere behind the main striker.
Hint, hint…
Matthews posted two rather cryptic updates to his Instagram stories on Thursday, possibly hints on his future with – or maybe without – Arsenal. Both pictures were captioned with texts about a “great move” that might mean a move away from Emirates Stadium or his integration into first team.
(photo: football.london)
There is interest
These cryptic social media updates come – admittedly, a long time – after reports about another Premier League team showing interest in the young footballer. In a piece of news posted in January, Football Insider reported that Newcastle was interested in signing the Gunners’ young striker, even opening discussions with Arsenal about his potential transfer and that a potential deal was already on the table. Reportedly, Matthews would be out of contract with the Gunners by the end of the season, providing Newcastle with an opening to try to recruit him.
A big day ahead for the Gunners
With the first day of the reopening Premier League coming closer, Arsenal is preparing to face Manchester City on June 17th in the second match of the post-COVID season. Analysts expect City to have the upper hand in the upcoming match, even though many of the Gunners’ players sidelined due to injuries before the lockdown will be back on the turf. There are many factors to keep in mind, though, as the teams return to the playfield: the players’ fitness can be different from their pre-lockdown form, the empty stadiums may also be a distraction – Bayern Munich player Thomas Mueller told the press that his first post-lockdown match, played in mid-May with no spectators, felt like “old man’s football, 7 pm, under floodlights”. But, as he said, once the ball started rolling, the butterflies disappeared, and the focus of the players fell on football itself.
