Arsenal have completed the signing of promising young full-back Carl Jenkinson from Charlton.
The teenager broke into Chris Powell's first team last season but his contract was allowed to run down. The Addicks, though, remain entitled to compensation of around £1million.
Jenkinson, 19, operates predominantly at right-back, but standing at 6'1" means he can also play at in the centre of defence.
Although born in England, he qualifies to represent both England and Finland through his mother and captained the Scandanavians at Under 19 level.
Addicks boss Chris Powell said: 'I want to put on record how much I admire Carl as player and, more importantly, as a young man. I wish him well on behalf of all the staff and players, because it's a dream move for him.
'If he grows into the right-back we all feel he could be, we could be talking about a player playing at the highest level for a long time.'
Powell continued: 'Carl's another one who has come from our youth programme, and if he follows in the footsteps of the likes of Scott Parker and Jonjo Shelvey, it will be great for him.
The Gunners also announced they have tied England youngsters Benik Afobe and Chuks Aneke to long-term deals, along with Dutch youth international midfielder Oguzhan Ozyakup.
'We will always look back at his time with us with fondness because he's been with us since he was an U9 player, and we hope he brings all the values that's he's learned here to Arsenal. I'm sure under the guidance of Arsene and his team, he could blossom into a wonderful player.'
The loss of Jenkinson came as a bitter blow to Charlton. Chairman Michael Slater was particularly disappointed when the player revealed he would not sign a new contract.
Slater said at the time: 'We've worked hard to convince Carl that he would be a key figure in Chris Powell’s plans going forward. But regrettably Carl will not sign the contract and has indicated he wishes to leave the club at the end of the season.
'Having been with the club for 11 years and recently described his run of games in the first team as "a dream come true", it is a real shame that he appears to have decided his future lies elsewhere.'
Best of luck to Carl.....
No comments:
Post a Comment