Arsenal Ink Winger Aaron Eyoma As Youth Relevance Grows

Arsenal welcome Aaron Eyoma to the club as he has signed his first professional contract at the age of 19. The Nigerian is continuing the trend of growing youth relevance.

Arsene Wenger pointed out that unless Lionel Messi knocks on his door looking for a deal, Arsenal is done in the January transfer window. Mohamed Elneny is the man. But that doesn’t mean that they are done making “signings.”

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Nigerian 19 year old Aaron Eyoma has inked his first professional deal with the club, as confirmed by Arsenal’s official twitter account. The highly touted winger joins a growing trend of youth and Nigeria in North London.

Eyoma was a prominent feature of the U18 squad last season, as his versatility took him all over the pitch. He scored five times for that Arsenal U18 side and scored another in just two appearances with the UEFA Youth League (via Arsenal.com).

Now 19 years old, he has been a sporadic member of the U21 side. In four minutes of play in the U21 Premier League side, he has managed an assist as his habit of making an impact could not be stifled by his limited opportunities. He has played 122 minutes in the U21 UEFA Youth League as well. However, his only start came at right back in Arsenal U21’s 2-1 loss to Dinamo Zagreb where he played the full 90 minutes.

At the U19 level, he has made six appearances and netted once (stats via Transfermarkt).

Despite the limited appearances, there is still plenty to be excited about with young Eyoma. He is a player much like his countryman Alex Iwobi, who uses his strength and direct approach to outwit and outmuscle opposing defenders. His eye for goal is not something to be taken lightly, as no matter where he goes, he contributes to the ball hitting the back of the net.

His versatility is also something to be valued highly, as he has played everything from right back to right wing. Granted, Arsenal has a massive surplus of right wings, they can always use more youth talent.

Eyoma continues a couple growing trends at Arsenal. For starters, he is Nigerian, which given the emergence of Alex Iwobi and the newest signings of Samuel Chuckwueze and Kelechi Nwakali, looks to be a growing crop at Arsenal.

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Second, he is an internal signing as opposed to an external signing. Wenger loves his youth talents and Eyoma is just another one to keep an eye on.