Arsenal cover the fees of almost £21,000 a year at St John’s, where Thompson and the forward Joshua Sesay last year became the first players to study there as part of an official educational partnership ratified by the Premier League.
Although they have not won the Youth Cup since a team including Wilshere and managed by Steve Bould did in 2009, Adam Birchall – who became the under-18s coach in October after Wilshere’s departure for Norwich – insists it is all part of the process.
Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly were two of the players who had to be consoled that night by their manager, Wilshere, and both are established as first-team regulars even though they are still eligible to play in the competition that has served as a springboard for so many young stars.
“They’ve got the talent,” says Birchall, who came through Arsenal’s Hale End academy and played for Wycombe, Barnet and Gillingham before returning to the club as a coach in 2016.
Such is Arsenal’s inexperience that Max Dowman – an attacking midfielder who has trained with the first team – was not old enough to play in the competition until he turned 15 on New Year’s Eve.
