The youngsters on bench in St Gallen

Tonight’s Europa League game could see plenty of new faces take to the field for us against FC Zurich, including three members of our academy side.

Find out more about them here:

Amario Cozier-Duberry

The 17-year-old young left-sided attacker has been named on the first-team bench for the first time in his career, which is a reward for a breakthrough campaign at under-18 level last term when he showed real versatility, featuring as both an attacking midfielder and wing-back. 

A skilful and determined player, he joined our Hale End academy in October 2019 aged 14 and has been capped by England at under-16 level, scoring on his debut against Wales. 

Amario put pen to paper on his first professional contract in June 2022, after making 29 appearances in all competitions, including three at under-23 level, where he has also appeared for us this season.

Catalin Cirjan

The Bucharest-born attacking midfielder joined our academy in July 2019 and signed his first professional contract the following December.

Previously with Viitorul Domnesti in his home country of Romania, with whom he is a youth international, the 19-year-old signed a new contract with us in July 2022.

A technically sound operator with an eye for a pass, Catalin likes to get forward from midfield, and can also play out wide.

Matt Smith

A technically gifted central midfielder with an impressive passing range, the 21-year-old was named on our first-team bench six times towards the end of the 2019/20 campaign, including in the 2020 FA Cup final victory against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.

Following that, Smith gained experience in senior football with Swindon Town (2020) and Charlton Athletic (2021), before spending last season on loan at Doncaster Rovers in League One, where he played nearly 50 times.

An Arsenal player from the age of eight, he captained the under-18s to Premier League South title in 2019, and was recently named on the bench for our Premier League win against Aston Villa.