Marcelo Flores makes his debut with Arsenal U-23s

Mexico's Marcelo Flores made his debut with Arsenal's U-23 team, during the match they played against Brighton, which ended in a one-goal draw.

Marcelo Flores had played matches for the English U-18 team, but this day he had his first participation with the aforementioned category and was on the pitch for a few minutes.

The Mexican came on the field in the second half

The Mexican, who has already been called up to El Tri by coach Gerardo Martino, came off the bench in that match, but it was in the 74th minute when he came onto the field and achieved another step forward in his career as a soccer player.

The English club even highlighted Flores' performance on its social networks, posting "catch him if you can, it's Marcelo Flores" and the message was accompanied by a photograph of the player in the match.

Marcelo Flores is in the search to reach the Premier League, he has already had the opportunity to train with the first team, but for now he was able to play with the U-23 team.

Who is Marcelo Flores?

Flores was born in Canada to a Canadian mother of English descent, and a Mexican former footballer, Rubén Flores. He was raised in Georgetown, Ontario. As his father was the manager of the Cayman Islands women's national football team, Flores spent some time on the islands, where he was invited to a training camp by Ipswich Town youth development coach Steve Foley. He impressed during the week-long camp, and joined the Ipswich Town academy.

In 2019, Flores joined the Arsenal academy on a free transfer. He made a bright start to the 2020–21 campaign with Arsenal's under-18s, scoring three goals in two games. After training with the first team, he signed his first professional contract in October 2020. Shortly after, he was included in The Guardian's "Next Generation 2020", highlighting the best young players in the world. 

Canada and England are interested in the player

The young Arsenal attacker could also represent Canada, the country of his birth, as well as England, having been granted a British passport earlier this year.

Although Flores has already played minutes with Mexico's senior national team, El Tri has not yet managed to sign him, as he will have to play at least three matches, which is why Canada, the national team which is more interested in the player, can still convince him to defend the country where he was born. 

The Mexican will be included in a list of players that Canada’s national team, John Herdman will have at his disposal in the following weeks to observe some of the players in preparation for the CONCACAF qualifiers against Honduras, the United States and El Salvador.