Arsenal announced on their website that young goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo has signed a new long-term deal with the north London club. The Englishman, who has been part of the Gunners over the past decade, was made a scholar in 2018 along with Bukayo Saka.
He has impressed for the youth teams ever since and has been deemed ready to take the next step, and join the first team. He’ll also be given a new shirt number. Speaking on the contract extension, manager Mikel Arteta was full of praise for the 19-year-old, telling the club website:
?? New long-term contract
? New shirt number
? Into our first-team squadCongratulations, @arthurokonkwo_ ?
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 9, 2021
“We welcome Arthur to the first-team squad. We are so happy another academy player has come through our system at the club.
“Together with Arthur’s huge talent and hard work, we thank our colleagues at the academy for developing Arthur in recent years to get to this stage, they are doing great work with the players’ development here and should be really proud.”
There was further praise from technical director Edu who mentioned the journey of Okonkwo so far, as he said:
“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. Arthur has worked hard to get this far and we’re confident he’ll have an exciting future.”
The shot-stopper could be in action soon as the Gunners are heading off for their pre-season tour in a few days. With Bernd Leno yet to return after international duty and Alex Runarsson likely to leave, the Englishman is one of many young keepers waiting for their chance.
But Okonkwo would be better placed to play as he is considered the third-choice goalkeeper which shows the faith the club has placed in him. It is a remarkable journey for a player that has been highly rated all through his time with the youth teams.
A confident keeper with sharp reflexes, it promises to be an exciting future for the youngster.
Arsenal have done well to secure the long-term future of one of the best players to emerge from their Academy in recent times and as seen by the success of Emile Smith-Rowe and Saka, Okonkwo could become the next homegrown star.