Young Gun: Brayden Clarke

Throughout the season, we catch up with our young Gunners in the matchday programme to find out more about their route to our academy. This week, Brayden Clarke explains his footballing roots, his journey to Arsenal and more.

I grew up in Oldbury, near Birmingham, until I was about five, and then I moved to a village in the area called Hagley. I got into football when my nan got me a ball at a very young age just to play with, and I started kicking it about. My mum also wanted me to play football with a local team, and I’ve loved it since then. 

My family background is that my mum is Welsh and English, while my dad is Scottish, English and Ghanaian. Growing up, I supported West Brom, but I looked up to Lionel Messi. He’s a magician of a player, and what he’s accomplished as a footballer is simply amazing.

In school, I would do all the sports in P.E, but ever since I started playing football, that’s been the only sport I’ve consistently played. I come from a footballing family; my dad, Nigel Quashie, played professional football, coming through at QPR but also playing for the likes of Portsmouth, Southampton and West Brom. He also played for Scotland. 

"I'm motivated to have a great career like my dad did!"

When I was around six or seven, I had been around the pre-academies of Aston Villa, Birmingham City, and West Brom. I first got scouted for Wolves when I was playing for West Hagley, and we had a friendly match in Wolverhampton where a Wolves scout noticed me. At the time, he wanted me to come to the development centre, and I spent around a year there. Then I went on trial at Wolves at the start of the under-10s season. I was so happy when I joined Wolves because my family was so proud of me, and it was such a step up from grassroots football.

It was also great to know that I was following in my dad’s footsteps, but it also pushes me and motivates me to have a great career like he did or even better! 

When I was much younger, my dad would mentor me a lot, but as I’ve gotten older, he’s given me the freedom to make decisions for myself. I’m always learning from him and do ask him for advice from time to time.

Standout moments when I was at Wolves would be playing with the under-18s when I was just 14, which was a big achievement for me, and when we got to the semi-final of the Floodlit Cup, it was a good moment too. We also went on a lot of tours in Europe, to Germany a few times, Italy twice, but my favourite one would be when we went on a pre-season tour to South Korea; that was an amazing experience.

When I left Wolves in December, I was told Arsenal were interested in me, and I had a one-week trial. It was only a week because I had to go on international duty with Wales the following week. It was a week of training, and then I played against Leyton Orient in the under-17s game, and I thought I played well. The game was also at their stadium, which made it more enjoyable. Then after I came back from Wales, I got the news that they wanted to sign me, and I was ecstatic. 

Speaking and meeting with Jack Wilshere was top because he’s got such amazing experience, given that he’s played at the highest level. It makes you want to trust him because he knows what it takes to play at the level every single one of us wants to get to, whether that be in the Premier League, Champions League, or even at international tournaments.

"I got the news Arsenal wanted to sign me and I was ecstatic!"

My first game for Arsenal under-18s was a very eventful 8-3 win against Crystal Palace. I was nervous beforehand, but the players and coaches were so nice, which helped me ease into it. I enjoyed it, played how I usually did, and was happy to come out with a big win! 

Playing for Wales under-17s has been amazing. I've been in the setup for quite some time now and every time I play for Wales, whether it’s a friendly or a qualifier, it’s always a big moment for me because of the Welsh connection through my mum, and it makes my whole family proud.

To qualify last year for the under-17 Euros in Hungary and play in an international tournament was surreal. It’s an experience that many of us will hold onto for a long time. Also, for us to qualify for this year's tournament in Cyprus is another fantastic accomplishment from the group, and we’re all looking forward to playing there this summer.

I’d describe myself as a ball-playing centre-half who likes to get the ball down and play, but to me, the most important thing is to keep the ball out of the net. I’ll put my all into everything; blocks, tackles, headers, whatever it takes! I take pride in defending. 

I look at the centre-backs in the first-team like Saliba and Gabriel, who are amazing talents. They play at such a high level, and it’s no surprise why the first-team has such a good defence; they’re both consistent and are a great partnership. 

My plan for the rest of the season is to continue settling in with the squad as I’ve still only just joined. Being at Wolves for such a long time, it’s a new experience for me, and it’ll take some getting used to, but the players and staff have been brilliant with me.