Jack Porter became Arsenal’s youngest ever starting player when the 16-year-old made his debut against Bolton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

At 16 years and 72 days, Porter outranks club icon Cesc Fabregas, who was 16 years and 177 days old when he started against Rotherham in October 2003.

Porter was selected in place of first-choice David Raya, who was ruled out with a thigh injury, Arsenal said. Raya left the Etihad Stadium with a bandage on his right knee after picking up the injury in last week’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

With Neto, who joined on loan from Bournemouth in the summer, not playing in the cup and 18-year-old Tommy Setford also out injured, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has called upon Porter, who only turned 16 in July.

Porter has previously trained with the first team a few times and was named as one of the substitutes for last week’s Champions League match against Atalanta, which ended 0-0.

He only signed a scholarship with the Gunners last summer and cannot sign a professional contract until next year, when he turns 17.

As ESPN reported on the closing day, Arsenal attempted to sign two more goalkeepers at the end of the transfer window. Aaron Ramsdale signed a permanent deal with Southampton and Karl Hein left on loan at Real Valladolid.

After securing the arrival of Neto, they explored the possibility of signing Joan García from Espanyol and also tried to sign Dan Bentley from Wolves, but were unable to reach an agreement.

Arteta rotated his team for the game against Bolton with the likes of youngsters Ethan Nwaneri and Miles Lewis-Skelly, while Raheem Sterling made his first start after a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Nwaneri holds the record for being the youngest player to ever play for Arsenal’s first team after coming on as a substitute in September 2022 at the age of 15 years and 181 days.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.