Young defender Alex Kirk has signed his first professional contract with the club.
The 18-year-old centre-back has been rewarded for his impressive progress, which has included him breaking into the U23 squad.
Kirk is composed in possession and also has good leadership skills, and he has steadily improved while progressing through the ranks at the academy.
In addition, Kirk has trained with the first-team on several occasions and will be a fully-fledged member of the U23 squad from next campaign.
Arsenal have a host of young centre-backs on their books but many of them, such as Daniel Ballard, Harry Clarke and Mark McGuinness, are out on loan, which has enabled Kirk to train regularly with the U23s.
In the second half of the season Kirk is set to continue to feature regularly for the U18s and he will also be looking to gain further experience for the second-string.
Kirk will be fully aware that there is still much hard work required if he is to be a success at Arsenal, but he has an excellent attitude and will be determined to improve further.
Yesterday represented a significant milestone in Kirk’s quest for success, and now he is looking to push on even further.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
He’s crossed the final frontier
He comes from a rich heritage of Alex’s to have played for Arsenal; Lacazette, Sanchez, Manninger, Song, Iwobi, Hleb, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Runarsson.
Never knew we had so many Alex’s