David Pearson

Striker - Arsenal U18
28 Aug 2027
Saturday
Process

Marked for David Pearson

50 Edition

The Arsenal Sentinel

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Terms done: Tommy Setford is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Birmingham waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Arsenal is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Squad

A falling-out at Arsenal

Bukayo Saka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Aaron Atkinson puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Arsenal, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

David Pearson is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 15 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Piero Hincapié signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Piero Hincapié commits to Arsenal for another 5 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Arsenal

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Riccardo Calafiori was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Bukayo Saka has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Arsenal will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

The William Saliba talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Piero Hincapié asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

Back issues
20 Edition

The Arsenal Sentinel

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Bukayo Saka takes the match ball home

6 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Match

Arsenal run riot against Burnley

9‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Match

Arsenal march on in the cup

Blackburn Rovers are out and Arsenal go through, 3‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

Both of them Viktor Gyökeres's — 10.00

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 10.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

3 goals for Christos Tzolis

The match ball belongs to Christos Tzolis, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Player ratings

Seb Ferdinand runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Bukayo Saka is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.35 with 22 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from David Pearson at 14 — 7.61

The hardest thing about being 14 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. David Pearson did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

Words exchanged at Arsenal

Bukayo Saka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief