Arsenal confirmed their first academy signing of the summer transfer window yesterday, with goalkeeper Lucas Nygaard joining the club.
The 18-year-old, who previously played for FC Nordsjaelland, has been capped by Denmark at youth level.
Nygaard’s signing was a necessary one, with Arsenal having been somewhat short of goalkeeping options at U21 level.
Alexei Rojas and Brian Okonkwo have both been offered professional contracts ahead of next season, but another goalkeeper was required and Nygaard will fill that void.
If Karl Hein, who recently signed a new contract, was to go on loan this season then an opportunity could well open up for Nygaard to challenge to be Arsenal’s third-choice goalkeeper at senior level.
Nygaard will hope to be involved with the first-team in some capacity in pre-season and if he impresses in training then it may not be too long until he is included in a matchday squad for the first time.
In his interview with the club’s official website, Nygaard stated that he is comfortable with the ball at his feet, which should help to endear him to Mikel Arteta.
Having not played competitively since January following his departure from his previous club, Nygaard may have to be given some time to get fully up to speed but it is hoped that the decision to bring him in will prove to be an inspired one.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
He put on his nygaards to protect his joints
of all the puns you could have made with “nygaard”, you chose that one. hats off, you’re definitely a better person than i am!
Let’s hope so
Is it known why Nygaard hasn’t played since January, Jeorge?
I think he had trials at different clubs.
Unrelated but it’s infuriating that Chelsea are selling Hutchinson for £20m.
He clearly wanted to leave, so not much we could’ve done about it in theory, but I wonder what exactly made them such an attractive proposition?
I recall something about his wage demands being prohibitive for our youth structure. Yes, it is infuriating. You get the sense that Arsenal would not have been able to sell him for this amount and that probably comes down to relationships in the industry.
I share your frustrations entirely. This side of the business needs a complete re think. We can’t let a direct rival steal 20 million on a player we produced.
The net “loss” will not be £20 million because presumably we got some compensation and we didn’t pay his high wages for a while…..but but but…..brilliant business by Chelsea and we look like mugs on this one. We are poor at this part of the business it seems
Don’t get down votes at all.we are shocking at this part of the business. Fact.
don’t get the downvotes either BUT a theory for why we might be so bad at it is partly that under Edu and Arteta we’ve mostly stopped letting agents dictate our transfer policy to us and playing their game. Agents are probably the ones most helpful to getting you vast somes of money on outgoing transfers and maybe some discounts on incoming ones. Given I’m sure some of the big ones are mad at us for not being their puppets anymore and maybe are even trying to punish and make an example out of us, this might be a big… Read more »
I have it on good authority 2 big players chelsea signed were already meant to be going to a big rival until they paid the agent more and it changed in the last 12 hours. Good news is Levy wont pay agents a dime so they hate him.
Why is Osimhen being talked about now. Seems extremely unlikely. If it were possible what do we think, yay or nay? I say no, too much on one player would hamstring us for other moves and into future windows.
Why unlikely? We have to sell first but no other club who can actually afford him has shown real interest. My understanding is he has a gentleman’s agreement with Napoli. They talked him into staying last summer with the promise that he could leave this summer. Antonio Conte has been very outspoken about keeping Kvara but has mentioned that the Osimhen situation was negotiated before he got there. So I think there was a lot of expectation at Napoli that they would sell him, crucially from the player most of all. But the buyers haven’t materialized. Chelsea was mooted but… Read more »
If you spend 100 million on one player, it’s because they are a transformative talent. That’s the level of talent Arsenal needs to get any better at this point, and Osi is one of the few attainable players who fit that category. I think the club would have preferred to sign a similar profile in Sesko for much less, but they will absolutely want to get Osi if at all possible. Have a look at this scouting report from Billy Carpenter, who is criminally under appreciated.
https://billycarpenter.substack.com/p/scouting-victor-osimhen
That’s true when you put it like that. If his wages wouldn’t blow out our payroll and the analyst wizards say he’d fit well it’s hard to be against it. Still feels too spendy for us after Rice. Until of course we get a combined 100 mill from Eddie, Partey, and ESR.
Reminds me of one TH! And, oh how I wish for another player like him!
Osimhen is a superb player, but his injury record isn’t great (60 games missed in 4 seasons) plus he’ll go to afcon every two years. That’s far too big of a risk in my opinion.
Good points, star striker out for AFCONS isn’t ideal. I don’t really remember with Auba, although Gabon not as big a threat to go deep as Nigeria.. I’m just fascinated to see what we do, if it’s Osimhen well then buckle up!
Definitely unlikely imo but IF we were to sign him, it’d be so flipping exciting! He’s a monster. Some of the names we’re being linked with this summer are just bland.