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[Photo] Highly-rated Spanish defender confirms he’s joined Arsenal

By on July 18, 2018

Highly-rated Spanish youth prospect Joel Lopez has confirmed he’s now an Arsenal player after deciding to leave Barcelona for the Emirates.

Arsenal have been chasing the 16-year-old for several months after he was identified by club scouts as a potential star of the future after impressing at Barca’s La Masia youth academy.

The Catalan giants have been doing their best to try and convince the defender to remain at the club but Lopez confirmed earlier this month that he had decided to leave the La Liga champions.

The Mirror reported last week that Arsenal had met with the teenagers family and persuaded Lopez to snub his boyhood club in favour of a move to north London this summer.

Arsenal promised Lopez a smoother path to the first team and it was enough to turn his head as the youngster took to Instagram to confirm his exit from Barcelona last week.

We’ve been waiting for Arsenal to announce the left-backs arrival but Lopez has now once again taken to Instagram to confirm that he’s now an Arsenal player.

Lopez becomes the latest player to move from Barcelona to Arsenal with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Hector Bellerin, Fran Merida and Jon Toral all making the switch in recent years.

The Spaniard will initially join Arsenal on schoolboy terms before penning a professional contract when he turns 17 in March 2019 and he’ll join our academy to work under Per Mertesacker.

MORE: Arsenal to launch move for £44m star

Obviously fans are more excited when we make big-money signings and Unai Emery hasn’t disappointed this summer after splashing out around £70m on five new first team players.

However, it’s also important that the club focus on the future so it’s always good news when we snap-up one of the most highly-rated youngsters in Europe – and even better when we snatch him from Barca!