James Scanlon, Arsenal's summer signing, is ineligible to play in the Champions League, meaning he cannot face Bayern Munich, despite impressing Mikel Arteta in training. The 20-year-old joined the Gunners on a free transfer from Manchester United, with a significant sell-on clause included in the deal.
Scanlon spent the second half of last season on loan at Swindon in League Two and has already made 28 senior international appearances for Gibraltar. The winger has been in superb scoring form for Arsenal's Under-21s, registering three goals in four Premier League 2 appearances.
Left Wing Situation and First Team Training
His form is particularly significant given the situation on the left wing in Arsenal's first team. Christos Tzolis remains out with a hamstring injury, and Eberechi Eze has struggled to make the shirt his own.
Scanlon has trained with Mikel Arteta's first team on several occasions this season. He was one of the few academy players included in the final training session before Arsenal faced Lille in the Champions League last week. During a warm-up drill, Martin Odegaard jumped on Scanlon's back when players partnered up.
Champions League Eligibility Rules
Scanlon is yet to make one of Arteta's matchday squads. Against Lille, teenagers Maalik Hashi and Ceadach O'Neil were on the bench. The Carabao Cup trip to Fleetwood next week could represent a potential opportunity for Scanlon to get closer to a senior Arsenal debut.
However, despite training with the squad before their Champions League matches, Scanlon is currently ineligible to feature in Europe. He was not one of the 22 players named in Arsenal's A List squad ahead of the league phase getting under way.
Hashi and O'Neil were also not included in that group, but they have been added to the squad through the B List. Those submissions must be sent to UEFA the night before each match and allow Arsenal to include young players not featured on the A List.
B List Requirements and Future Prospects
UEFA rules state: "A player may be registered on List B if he is born on, or after, January 1 2004, and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday, or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year."
As Scanlon only joined Arsenal in the summer, he has not been at the club long enough to be eligible through the B List. That means, unlike many of his U21 team-mates, he is not available for Champions League matches.
Arsenal host Sabah in their final league-phase match in January, in what could well be a dead rubber and an opportunity for Arteta to give minutes to his academy stars. Scanlon will not get that opportunity and will have to hope he gets his chance in domestic competitions instead. He will remain ineligible in Europe until at least February, when clubs are able to make changes to their A List and register a maximum of three new players for the knockout stages.
