Arsenal complete signing of 16-year-old wonderkid from Premier League rivals Wolves
Mikel Arteta has added another promising star.
Arsenal have completed the signing of 16-year-old wonderkid Brayden Clarke from Wolves.
The young Welsh international has penned a deal that will see him link up with Mikel Arteta's side initially as a first-year scholar.
Clarke was a key member of the Wales Under-17s squad which reached the European Championship Finals in 2023 – the first Welsh age-group side to reach a major finals since the early 1980s.
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The teenager has already made his debut for the Gunners too, as Arsenal's Under-18s beat Crystal Palace 8-3 in the U18 Premier League on Saturday.
Completing his move from the Midlands, Clarke took to Instagram to share his excitement at joining the side currently top of the English top-flight.
“The time has come for me to move onto a new chapter. I want to thank everybody who has helped me along the journey, and I wish all of my teammates at Wolves the best of luck for the future," he wrote on social media.
Arsenal's academy has long been hailed as one of the best in the country, with stars such as Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe and Joe Willock all coming through at Hale End.
Arteta is extremely keen to promote the next crop of talent with the Gunners and has stated before how a continuing conveyor belt of youth players can be extremely vital.
"I knew about our academy because of my time here playing," he said back in 2021.
"I had already seen some of the talent come through and I played with some. It’s part of our identity, to raise players.
"We have a great academy, we have coaches that deserve so much credit for the education that they are giving those players.
"And then - like anybody - they need opportunities, they need game time to prove that they can do it at that level."
Topics: Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Premier League, Football, Bukayo Saka
Matthew Holt