Matt Smith recently reached a significant milestone in his fledgling career as he signed his first professional contract with Arsenal. The talented young midfielder was rewarded for the excellent performances that he has produced at U18 level, where he has demonstrated his fine passing range. For Smith, though, the hard work doesn’t stop here, with the Hale End product determined to make a major impact at U23 level. Smith has already gained some experience of second-string football – he was heavily involved with the squad earlier in the campaign when several players were unavailable due to injuries and suspensions.
Since then Smith has returned to the U18 setup, where he has continued to make a major impact as Ken Gillard’s side look to win the league title at the expense of rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Towards the end of last season Smith participated in several first-team training sessions and didn’t look out of place amongst players considerably older than him.
It will be a tough task for Smith to eventually break into the first-team squad at Arsenal given the amount of midfielders at the club, but he is certainly a player to keep an eye on. If Smith continues to perform to a high standard for the U18s for the remainder of the campaign then it seems likely that he will go into next season full of confidence and ready to thrive for the U23s next campaign.
“It’s an amazing feeling. Arsenal is a massive club and I’ve supported it my whole life. I’ve been here since I was seven, so this is a really proud moment.” “There’s been some good times and some bad times, it’s obviously a big change to move from Hale End to here, but I think that I’ve adapted well. Although it took a little bit of time, now I just want to keep on working hard and keep on improving.” “It’s a proud moment for me and my family. Every day I’ve been trying to work hard and this is what I’ve been trying to work hard towards. Now it’s obviously paid off, but the hard work’s not done yet.”
“There were areas of my game that I needed to work on. I feel like I have worked on them, although I could still do more. Last year was harder to get game time, but I’m captain of the 18s now which is obviously a big privilege. But I just want to carry on working hard.” “I’ve set myself some targets. I want to get some more goals and assists in the under-18 league and then get some more appearances for the under-23s. Overall, as a team, I’d say our ambition this season is to win the under-18s league.”
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