Arsenal have finalised a deal for highly-rated Barcelona youngster Joel Lopez. A left-back who was previously playing for Barcelona’s Juvenil B side, Lopez turned down the chance to stay at La Masia and has instead elected to move to Arsenal, where he has signed a scholarship contract. Lopez will sign a professional deal when he turns 17 in March next year and will go into Arsenal’s U18 squad to begin with, although it is anticipated that he could break into the U23s before the conclusion of the campaign.
It has been a busy summer for Arsenal in terms of first-team transfers and the same applies at academy level, with goalkeeper Karl Jakob Hein having signed from Nomme United, while forward Sam Greenwood joined from Sunderland. A player who is excellent technically, Lopez’s signing was a necessary one for Arsenal, who needed a new left-back at U18 level following Dominic Thompson’s promotion to the U23 squad.