Arsenal recently signed Jayden Adetiba from SuperSport United Soccer School in Cape Town, with the pre-teen calling the move to the Gunners’ academy “amazing” for an “Arsenal fan”. For the Londoners to sign Adetiba clearly proves he’s a promising player, and former SuperSport manager Brent Sanders was full of praise for the “exceptional talent”.
He said to KweseESPN: “Jayden worked with me for two years from the age of seven, and from his first practice session I could see that he was an exceptional talent that stood out in the group. You could see he had something special, but what was also so impressive was the way he progressed almost with every training session. He had a real hunger to learn and was able to put that into practice quickly.”
Adetiba is only nine years of age, but he’s in good hands to develop into a professional footballer. The aim is to progress through the youth ranks to the first-team in time and become a mainstay in the Gunners’ squad. Sanders has given him a glowing endorsement and believes he has the attributes to make it far.
Although eventually joining Arsenal, Adetiba could have joined Blackburn Rovers. At the 2017 Futebol de Salao World Cup in Johannesburg, the youngster was being scouted by Rovers. He was invited for a trial at the club and was offered a place in their academy.
Sanders added that Adetiba may have scored four goals and been named Man of the Match in his first game for Blackburn. After one month with the side, Arsenal offered him a five-week trial that eventually led to him being offered a contract. And the rest is history. Time will tell if he can live up to his potential with the Gunners.
Stats from Transfermarkt.
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