Sheffield Wednesday are reportedly weighing up a loan move for Arsenal right-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy.
Following productive stints at Lincoln City and Rotherham United, the 19-year-old continued to ply his trade in the Championship with Coventry City in the second half of the 2022-23 season.
The move proved to be a useful one for Norton-Cuffy, who made 24 appearances for the Sky Blues and started all three of their playoff games during their unsuccessful bid for promotion to the Premier League.
Largely occupying a wing-back role, Norton-Cuffy started and played 90 minutes of Coventry's playoff final with Luton Town, who bested the Sky Blues on penalties at Wembley.
With his loan deal at the Coventry Building Society Arena now over, Norton-Cuffy is set to return to Arsenal for pre-season, but he is not expected to make the step-up to first-team football just yet.
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Instead, The Star reports that Norton-Cuffy could be offered the chance to continue in the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday, who beat Barnsley in the League One playoff final to return to the second tier.
While the Owls are yet to make a formal approach for the teenager, his name has apparently been brought up in conversations at Hillsborough as they look to recruit players with Championship experience.
Norton-Cuffy previously represented Chelsea at youth level before transferring to Arsenal in 2016, scoring one goal and providing two assists in 19 games for the Gunners at Under-18 level.
The 2004-born defender has also played 17 games for Arsenal's Under-21 team, but he is still waiting to make his first-team debut for Mikel Arteta's side.
Nevertheless, Norton-Cuffy's performances out on loan have also helped him establish a role as a key player at youth level for England, winning the Under-19 Euros last year.
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The defender was also called up to the Under-20 World Cup, but he missed the group stage due to his playoff commitments and played just 63 minutes in England's last-16 loss to Italy.
While it remains to be seen where Norton-Cuffy will end up next term, Arsenal boss Arteta is thought to be searching for reinforcements at right-back ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Cedric Soares are all options on that side for Arteta, but the Spaniard is supposedly hoping to revert the former to a central role next season.
Tomiyasu's time at Arsenal has also been marred by injuries, while Cedric is facing an uncertain future following his six-month loan spell with Fulham, but he apparently wants to stay and fight for his place at the Emirates Stadium.
Real Valladolid's Ivan Fresneda and Manchester City's Joao Cancelo are both thought to be right-back targets for the Gunners, who have apparently made progress in talks with the latter's representatives.
Ben Knapton
