Brooklyn Beckham 'set to be released by Arsenal already'

Beckham will not be retained next season, subsequently ending his time as an Arsenal youth player - that’s according to a report in the Daily Mail.

The report is somewhat of a surprise given that Beckham had been called up to the U18 team earlier this month, but the decision has reportedly been taken.

The 15-year-old is part of the club’s Hale End academy and it had been reported that he was hoping to land a two-year contract.

The newspaper reports that Beckham was one of only a few U16 and U17 players left at the academy as the rest of the players travelled to the Al Kass youth tournament in Qatar.

So what had been initially regarded as a promotion to the U18 team was reportedly not actually the case in reality.

According to the report, Beckham is expected to remain at Arsenal until the end of the season when he will address his options moving forward.

It is believed that Arsenal’s youth coaches still rate Beckham highly and feel as though he can still become a professional player elsewhere, but with a modelling career on the side he may move in a different direction.

Having started at Arsenal's academy later than the majority of other youngsters, Beckham was always believed to be playing catch up.

It is unfortunate, if the report is correct, that his disappointment will be playing out in the full media glare, but that was always going to be inevitable given the profile of the Beckham family.

Many so called ‘rising stars’ get cut from Premier League academies each year and so this would not be a particularly unusual situation. However, with Beckham having received so much hype already in his Arsenal career, this report is certainly surprising after glowing assessments.

If Arsenal’s coaches feel that other players in his right midfield position are more advanced in their development at the club then it is clearly an appropriate decision.

Brooklyn’s brothers, Romeo and Cruz, are also enrolled at Hale End and could end up being more successful in football.

The 10-year-old Cruz is said to be the most promising of the Beckham brothers, but then who really knows at this stage?