It’s genuinely a huge achievement for any young player to simply be offered professional terms with a massive club, so to stick around for a few years after that proves you must be a very decent player.
Unfortunately for young players at Arsenal the leap to the first-team can be too much for some, so it makes sense to drop down a division or two and actually play some senior football.
Young defender Tolaji Bola has actually been with Arsenal since 2008 when he played for the U9s, but it’s been confirmed this evening that he’s left the club on a permanent basis to sign for League One side Rotherham United.
He turned 22 at the start of the year so he was reaching a point where U23 football wouldn’t do much for him, so this gives him a great chance to establish himself at a good level and just play senior football.
He has some experience after a loan spell with Rochdale last year and he impressed there, so it will be interesting to watch his development going forward.