Arsenal has officially announced the permanent signing of Tommy Setford, an Ajax teenager, as their goalkeeper.
Although the 18-year-old has played his whole youth career at Ajax, he has received caps for England at the Under-17, Under-18, and Under-19 levels.
Setford was raised at the storied Dutch club after rising through the youth levels. He was born in the Netherlands.
Along with some familiar names from the England junior teams, the adolescent is enthused about his new voyage and has signed a four-year deal with the Gunners.
I am grateful to Arsenal for this chance. “I am eager to get started right away,” Setford remarked.
‘I already know Ethan [Nwnaeri] and Myles [Lewis-Skelly]. They’re great guys and I can have a good laugh with them. I spent a few camps with them, so I know them well. I just saw them for a quick meet and greet!
‘I’m looking forward to learning new things next season and pushing myself to another level. For the short term, it’s very important now to get a feel for the group and start to know everyone.’
Academy manager Per Mertesacker said: ‘We welcome Tommy to Arsenal. He is a young goalkeeper with big potential and we look forward to supporting his development in the coming years.
‘The first step on Tommy’s development pathway with us will be to integrate into our under-21s academy group and train regularly with our first team goalkeeping group.’
The Evening Standard report that the deal is worth around €1million (£840,000).