Arsenal of England’s technical director, Edu has declared that The Gunners’ Nigerian-born youth team goalkeeper, Arthur Okonkwo will enjoy a bright, glorious and exciting future with the club, megasportsarena.com reports.
Edu declared as much in the advent of Okonkwo’s new contract signing with the London-based English Premier League club, and the former Arsenal icon stressed that the young keeper will enjoy his stay with the team.
A report by Football.London revealed that Okonkwo, despite not having played for The Gunners’ first team, has many admirers across the UK, with his stock rising a lot higher after he appeared on the bench for Arsenal in the UEFA Europa League last season.
Ironically, he was a free agent for a long while and there appeared to be no progress over talks for his new deal, as the England under-18 shot-stopper made demands the club was not willing to accept.
That was until an updated report emerged on Monday that he was ready to put pen to paper on new terms, which he has now done and much to Edu’s delight, with the former midfielder coming out to openly rain accolades on the Nigerian-born lad.
The Gunners’ technical buff further admitted he was excited seeing the 19-year-old Okonkwo sign a new professional contract that will see him join The Gunners’ first-team squad for the upcoming season.
Edu hailed the youngster’s impact so far with the club, whose youth policy he hailed to high heavens, and declared: “Arthur has worked hard to get this far and we’re confident he’ll have an exciting future.
“The work of our academy and development of young players for the first team is a huge part of what we stand for as a club.
“They have produced some top players in recent years all of who have a special connection with the club and our fans.
“It’s great that we have our third goalkeeper who has progressed from our academy and we look forward to seeing more young players coming through.”
