Arsenal have snapped up one of England's most highly rated English defenders in Zech Medley. The club confirmed on their official website that the 16-year-old has signed a scholarship with the club this week.
Medley was a part of Chelsea's youth programme but was released from the club last month for reasons unknown. The Gunners offered him a trial at their club and follow successful completion of the trial, the club has given him the chance to pursue his professional youth career at London Colney.
The 16-year-old is a centre-back by trade owing to his large body structure. He's tall, he's quick and he has the frame to become a top-level defender for both club and country in the future. He's already made four appearances for the English Under 16 side and signs the contract with Arsenal joining the under 18s – outlining the potential Arsenal coaches see in him.
Medley is the twelfth member Arsenal have offered a scholarship to this year and is another big name in their youth line-up as they prepare adequately for the future. Arsene Wenger is a huge believer in giving youth a chance to progress into the first team and should Medley impress the Frenchman enough, he could have a run out in the English Football League and FA Cup rounds next season onwards.
Stressing on scouting the youngsters
The side from North London has been scouting a lot of their competitors on the youth stage these days under the stewardship of Andries Jonker. The Dutchman – much like Wenger – is a firm believer in youth and is currently the head of the Arsenal youth programme.
Having held roles as high as assistant manager for the likes of Bayern Munich and VFL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, the Dutchman joined Arsenal with quite the reputation. He replaced legendary Arsenal figure Liam Brady as the head of the academy.
He was also the assistant manager to Louis van Gaal at Barcelona after a stint with the Dutch national team. His insistence to building a team right from the youth stages echoes the ethos of the North London club who continue to pride themselves as one of the few UEFA Champions League clubs who are self-sustained and capable of producing youth year in and year out.
Arsenal's latest graduates include the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Alex Iwobi, Hector Bellerin and Gedion Zelalam who have all made appearances with the first team. Iwobi and Bellerin even have first-team contracts with the latter impressing heavily last season – concluding his season by making it into the PFA Team of the Year.
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