Carl Jenkinson has completed a permanent move to Nottingham Forest ending his eight-year spell as an Arsenal player.
He has signed a three-year deal at the City Ground and joins for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of £2 million.
The right-back moved to the Emirates from Charlton as a 19-year-old Finland under-21 international after and quickly earned a place in Arsene Wenger’s first team following an injury to Bacary Sagna.
Blessed with a terrific engine, a decent cross and photographic evidence of a childhood Gunners duvet set, he became an instant hit on the terraces despite a red card in the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford. He was, as they say, ‘one of our own’.
Switching allegiance to England, he was awarded a full cap by Roy Hodgson in November 2012 as the Three Lions were beaten 4-2 by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden. The following month as a member of Wenger’s ‘British core’ he signed a new long-term deal.
Performances, in part because of injury, became somewhat erratic after that. He averaged 12 Premier League appearances for the Gunners in his first three seasons and bagged his only competitive goal in the final day of the 13/14 season. When Arsenal signed Mathieu Debuchy West Ham came calling.
A successful year-long loan with the Hammers was followed by a second that was curtailed prematurely by a nasty ACL injury just before Christmas 2016. Crystal Palace agreed a deal to sign him when he returned to full fitness but despite it being obvious he was surplus to requirements at London Colney he turned down the move.
A loan move to Birmingham City in the summer of 2017 was supposed to resurrect his flagging career but he dislocated his shoulder on his league debut and again sat on the sidelines.
The Corporal enjoyed a surprise swansong under Unai Emery playing eight games across four competitions last season. He was even serenaded by supporters throughout an FA Cup win over Blackpool.
While he ended the campaign higher up the pecking order than Stephan Lichtsteiner, the boss still preferred midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles as back-up to the injured Hector Bellerin.
It looked like he might see out the final year of his contract, but with Arsenal on the hunt for long-term solutions to our obvious defensive issues, it appears both parties have found a suitable resolution.
Arseblog News wishes Carl all the best for the future.
You never know, you might find yourself sitting next to him at the Emirates in years to come.
Good luck and god bless Jenko, a man who always tried his best for the Arsenal.
Watch the goal he scored against Norwich a few years back & you can see what it meant to him, literally a fan playing for his team.
Good luck at Forest mate.
Better player than he’s given credit for. Also the poor guy should be credited with 2 goals. He scored the equaliser against reading in injury time of the 7-5 cup game after walcots shot was cleared off the line. It went fractionally over but the linesman didn’t see it and the goal wouldn’t have been given. He followed up and scored only for Walcot to claim after that it was his goal ignoring the fact no official gave it and we would’ve been out. Remember feeling sorry for him that that goal which would’ve meant so much was denied him… Read more »
Theo scored that goal
Will miss Jenks. Always put in a shift, always got a place in my heart. Lovely bloke.
Goodnight, sweet Corporal.
Damn, those 8 years have gone by so fast!
All the best to the Corporal. He’s lived his dream and now has a shot at some regular football.
My favourite moment was his amazing own goal. It was very endearing…
Really unlucky with his injuries.
But there is a decent championship player in there.
Good luck Jenko 🙂
Jenko the Fett, was a pleasure fella. Good luck…but please don’t bring an Arsenal shirt to your unveiling…
He may have an Arsenal crest tattoo on his chest under his Nottingham forest shirt for a reverse unveil ?
All the best to you fella.
So long and good luck, Jenks. I hope you get playing time and kickstart your career again.
As for us. Another defender goes… I really hope this means we’re about to announce we’ve agreed terms with Rugani or Upamecano, and Tierney. Or all 3 (oh why do I dream so).
£2m is a travesty. He’s way better than Harry Maguire.
And he doesnt look like the groom at a lesbian wedding
?????
I’m still laughing. Thanks for cheering up my morning!
Good luck Corporal!!!! You lived your’s, mine and every other gooners dream and I’ll always remember you with a smile.
Thanks for sucking us dry for 8 years haha. Could have left to play anytime but decided to take the big wages and not play. Fair enough i guess, Arsenal fan and all that so he got away with it.
Easy to say from where you’re sitting, isn’t it?
That’s harsh. He, no doubt, has aspirations as a professional football player, let alone a lifelong Arsenal fan. Just because you (and indeed, probably the collective ‘we’) didn’t think he was good enough for Arsenal, there is no reason to believe he wouldn’t have turned up to training every day thinking, ‘I can still turn this around and have a career at the club I love if I push myself’. I suspect this was his mentality in turning down Palace. But I also suspect it’s clear to all now that the writing is on the wall, hence he’s left for… Read more »
Wenger should have told him to go rather than leaving it up to Jenks when that Palace bid came in. This management team seems much more ruthless, and I like it
No one forced the hierarchy to offer him the contract they did – who knows but for injuries maybe he could have developed into the player the contract suggested he might have been.
He went on loan when it was offered, if he turned down a permanent move previously it’s probably because he still thought he could offer (the team he loves) something as a player – can’t blame him for that.
Don’t be an actual arse!
Captain my corporal … Jenko lived a dream, and won’t celebrate if he scores against us in the FA Cup/Milk Cup. Gooner for life.
We all lived vicariously through Jenko when he scored vs Norwich. One of my favourite Arsenal goals from the last few years.
He will he Forest’s best player with confidence and regular game time under his belt. Good luck big man.
Why weren’t PL teams interested? He should be good enough for smaller PL clubs at least for their benches.
Makes sense, but we really badly need a defender or two now.
Good luck to Jenko!
We have five central defenders and four full-backs. What you mean is we need a GOOD defender or two.
NOOOOOOOOoooooooo! Not the Corporal. Best of luck Jenks. Really hope it works out for him there.
The difference in the statements posted in the articles on Arsenal.com for the transfers of Jenkinson and Koscielny are markedly different. The Kos affair obviously pissed off some people at the club.
All the best Corporal Jenks 🙂
His goal at Norwich. Ufff.. Stuff of legends…
Best of luck Jenko, Hope it works out for him!
Honestly this one hurts more than Kos leaving,
More money in our coffers and another one off the wage bill.
Thanks for your time with us, Carl, all the best at your new club and kudos for leaving in a dignified way.
Yes with all these shitty little sales, we might be able to afford Ozil’s wages for a year ??♂️
Isn’t it good that we offload a player who isn’t good enough to play for us? Isn’t it also good that he gets a club where he has regular game time and can get on with his career? You’re just one of those glass half empty guys, aren’t you?
This is a lovely tribute, kudos to you Andrew Allen.
Forgot he was a Finnish international when we signed him. He was sort of explosive before the injuries, like a Pie Shop Oleg Luhzny. See you on the terraces Corporal. I salute!
His time at Arsenal is sadly, ahem, Finnished.
Never knew Jenko had played for Finland’s U21! Multi-talent and multi-national! Best of luck to him.
Should have stuck with Finland.
He wasn’t ever going to be a regular England player.
A shame
Can’t believe he wouldn’t see out his contract, such a disrespectful lack of loyalty to the club
Turn around bright eyes…
Someone who always knew what it meant to play for Arsenal, wish it had worked out a bit Better for him it’s sad but understandable to see him go, hopefully he finds success at his new club
The dream is over.
Best of luck to Jenkinson. It’s been a lot of fun. Something tells me we won’t be seeing a video if him pulling off the Arsenal kit to reveal a Forrest one.
Thanks Corporal for the memories. A true Gooner and a cult hero. Never kicked up a stink, always tried his best and provided the best banter. He’ll do well in the Championship.
Remember meeting the Corporal in Faces east London. Told him he was a true Gooner. I have good chat when i’m smashed.
His announcement video is going to show him taking off a Forest shirt to show an Arsenal one underneath.
In fact better than his reputation. He put in an enthusiastic shift when Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-0 in January. Forest get a good player. Thanks, Carl!
Best of luck Jenko.
Tierney and Rugani in and we have a much more balanced team.
Good luck with the rest of your career Jenko, you’re so much better than Mustafi 😉
We’ve lost the last piece of the ‘british core’ and a true Gunnar..
Thot we’d give him/let him have his pension…
I don’t want Rugani..that would be underwhelming..we need an instant hit with upamecano…no need to joke around with that bad defence
The market for top CB´s is very slim and hugely inflated
Sad to see the Corporal marching away to the battlefield of lower tier football, but in a way, it’s quite fitting that it’s Notts Forest he’s carrying his musket to. As you all well know, The Arsenal are indebted to Forest for their first red kit, apparently. So to you, dear Jenks- happy hunting in the forest and in some way, you can wear the shirt with some kind of historically genetic pride..
Gutted and pleased all at the same time! A true Gunner – always tried his best, never gave us any hassle, and (IMO) a far better player than some are giving him credit for. I now have a team to support in the Championship! Knock ’em dead Corporal! I’m happy you’re getting game time.
Best of luck to him, a true Gunner. Glad he will get a chance to play and prove himself.
All the best Carl. A fan that lived the dream
Good to get Jenks’ salary the books all the same. Looking for one more IN please guys!
Best of luck and hope he returns in some capacity in the future.
2m barely covers the English tax does it?
Good luck to him. We need to trim the wage bill (too high anyway, and we’ve added to it by recent purchases) and he was on a very reasonable salary according to other reports.
Blogs you forgot to mention his famous father…
Just seen your other post
F
Sad to see the last of that young British group going, but I guess that’s the nature of things these days. Good luck to him, he’s certainly given his all for the team when asked. It was great to see the joy on his face for that first PL goal.
Strange how the British players seem unable to make it at Arsenal (I’m talking the last 10 years).
– Wilshere had glimpses, but injuries got the better of him
– Jenkinson never made it
– Chambers hasn’t made it yet
– Walcott glimpses
– Gibbs also glimpses
– Holding same
– Ox same
– Ramsey is probably the only British player to make a real impact in the last years, but he was also injured 50% of the time
Jenko, always played with heart but sadly it wasn’t good enough. All the best mate.