Who is Charles Sagoe Jr? Meet 19-year-old Arsenal star making debut for the Gunners in EFL Cup fixture against Brentford

Arsenal have named young attacker Charles Sagoe Jr in the lineup for the side's Carabao Cup clash. The 19-year-old is set to make his Gunners debut against Brentford in the third round of the cup.

The youngster joins Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah in attack as Mikel Arteta's side look to advance to the next round.

Sagoe Jr has been described as an intelligent forward with the ability to play on both wings. He joined Arsenal's youth side from Fulham in 2015. He was a regular presence in the side's u-21 setup, bagging six goals in 26 Premier League 2 outings. This season, he has made seven appearances across all competitions, scoring one goal and setting up four more.

The 19-year-old was named on the bench in the Gunners' first-leg clash against Sporting CP in the Europa League last year.

Aaron Ramsdale returned to the starting lineup as Arteta opted to rotate the squad and keep his key players healthy. Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu earned starts in defence while Emile Smith-Rowe earned a start after almost 500 days for the side.

Arteta speaks on Arsenal squad fitness troubles

Arteta's side are facing fitness issues.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta admitted that his squad is facing fitness issues. Speaking ahead of the side's EFL Cup clash against Brentford, he opened up on the injury situation and the possibility of youngsters getting minutes.

He said (via press conference):

“It’s the situation that we have at the moment, the squad that we have at the moment is really short and we need players back, that’s for sure.”

Arteta added:

“We only had one Champions League game and it’s still early [in the season]. It’s true that they play with the national teams and it comes after a season that had a World Cup with some players playing 60-odd games."

He concluded:

“There are a lot of players that need minutes, that’s for sure. You can go through the squad, some players haven’t played that many minutes and tomorrow they’re going to have exposure for sure. That can include [academy youngsters], yes.”

The Gunners are in a bit of an injury crisis. Star players Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are expected to be out for the near future, having been taken off in the side's 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur.

Alongside the pair, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey are all unavailable for the Brentford game. This has promoted Arteta to name a young lineup including a debut for Arsenal academy prospect Charles Sagoe Jr.