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[Photo] Highly-rated defender signs Arsenal contract after joining from Barcelona

By mac14 on August 24, 2018

Highly-rated Spanish youth prospect Joel Lopez has been photographed signing his scholarship contract with Arsenal after joining from Barcelona this summer.

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

The Spanish giants did their best to try and convince the teenager to remain at the Nou Camp but Lopez confirmed earlier in the summer that he had decided to leave the La Liga champions.

A move to Arsenal was soon agreed after club representatives met with Lopez and his family to convince him his future was best served in north London as he’d be given a fast-track to the first team squad.

The sweet-talking worked and Lopez confirmed on social media last month that he was an Arsenal player but the club have only just announced his arrival officially on Arsenal.com.

The left-back has once again taken to Instagram to upload a photo of him posing in his Arsenal gear as he signed his contract and he’s expected to pen a professional deal when he turns 17 in March 2019.

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 youngster is highly-rated in his homeland so hopefully he can continue to develop over the coming years and push to break in to the first team set-up. We could certainly do with a new left-back.