Lino Sousa Tipped To Replace Departing Joel Lopez

Arsenal announced the departure of former Barcelona academy full-back Joel Lopez this week, with some suggesting Lino Sousa's arrival is part of the reason why.

Arsenal confirmed that three members of the u23 squad will be departing the club at the end of their contracts this month, with Jonathan Dinzeyi, Jordan McEneff, and Joel Lopez all on the way out.

Exits for Dinzeyi and McEneff aren't entirely surprising, after underwhelming loan spells this season. Arsenal had already extended McEneff's deal once to help him get fit, but it's now evidently time for him to make a fresh start.

Lopez's departure was somewhat less predicted. The left-back was a regular in the Arsenal u23 side this season, making over 25 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals, and assisting five.

The youngster had some big moments for the youth teams, including scoring against Premier League 2 leaders Manchester City away from home, and wearing the captain's armband on a couple of occasions - including in the EFL Trophy Round-of-16 victory over Chelsea.

Whilst he wasn't yet knocking on the door of the first team, it certainly wouldn't have been a shock to see Lopez get a new short-term deal and a loan to see how he progressed.

Instead, he's on the way out. Goal journalist Charles Watts has given his thoughts on the move, suggesting January arrival Lino Sousa could have influenced the decision.

"Lino Sousa, who obviously came in from West Brom in January, only a 17-year-old, but made a big, big impression in the second half of the season," Watts told his YouTube channel.

"A really, hugely talented player. Lots of people at the club rave about him when you speak to them about how good this kid is.

"This is just me presuming, but I would imagine a big reason for Lopez being let go is that this is just going to free up the space at left-back for Sousa."

Sousa was indeed impressive in his early appearances for Arsenal, scoring in both of his u23 starts and offering a lot to the attack from his role as a full-back.

Whilst Lopez had a solid enough final season with the club, there was also a sense that he hadn't really pushed on. He was often overlooked by first-team staff, only making the senior squad for one match in the last two seasons despite Kieran Tierney's injury struggles.

Academies often have to make tough choices like this, and Arsenal have seemingly decided their best bet was to free up space ahead of Sousa for more regular football at the u23 level.