Where are they now? Arturo Lupoli.

As a club that focuses a lot on their academy and youth set-up, there are plenty of youngsters who have climbed the slippery rope to the Arsenal first-team in recent years. On the other end of the scale many more players don’t make it as a first-team regular at the Emirates. So this is the first part in the series of ‘Where are they now?’ In the series I’ll look at the ones that got away.

First up is Arturo Lupoli, who joined Arsenal as a 17 year old from Parma. Before joining Arsenal, the Italian scored 45 goals in 22 games for the under 17 side at Parma. No transfer fee was exchanged between the clubs but the Gunners paid a nominal compensation fee. Interestingly while Arsenal scouts were watching Lupoli in an U17 game versus Atlanta, the opposition goalkeeper was a certain Vito Mann...