Austrian club Sturm Graz are facing difficulty in signing Arsenal’s English teenager Arthur Okonkwo on another loan deal.
Gunners already have Aaron Ramsdale as their number one goalkeeper and Matt Turner in their reserve. That’s why Okonkwo is set for another short-term spell away from the Emirates this summer.
The teenager travelled to Austria after a few months at English fourth-tier club Crew Alexandra as he joined Sturm Graz last summer. Okonkwo made quite an impact as he kept four home clean sheets and helped the club to finish second in the Austrian League Table.
Clubs sporting director Andreas Schicker claimed few weeks ago that Okonkwo is leading towards extending his stay at the Austrian giants this summer. But they’re facing competitions from few English. He tells Laola1 :-
“We are still in the running for another loan.
“But there are also inquiries for him on the English market.
“Difficult.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta rates Okonkwo ‘very highly’ and remains convinced of his vast potential. He said :-
“Together with Arthur’s huge talent and hard work, we thank our colleagues at the academy for developing Arthur in recent years to get to this stage.
“Arthur was working and travelling a lot with the first team last season. We have all seen his quality at first hand.
“He is a strong young goalkeeper with great potential and we’re so pleased he has signed a new deal. He has absolutely earned his place in the first-team squad.
“Arthur will now join us every single day in training, where we look forward to watching him continue to develop and improve his goalkeeping. I know all our fans will join me in congratulating Arthur on this positive step in his career.”
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