Arsenal confirm transfer of 16-year-old wonderkid from Premier League rival

Arsenal have announced the signing of promising young defender Brayden Clarke, who has joined the Gunners' academy from Wolves after turning heads for Wales youth sides

Arsenal have announced the signing of 16-year-old wonderkid Brayden Clarke from Premier League rivals Wolves.

Even though Arsenal's first team is on a break, they've been busy adding to their youth squad. Mikel Arteta's senior team are enjoying a break of over two weeks between their Champions League penalty shoot-out win against Porto and a possible Premier League title decider against Manchester City.

But in the meantime, they've welcomed a new player who they hope will be a future star. Welsh defender Clarke, who won't be 17 until July, has moved from Wolves' academy to Arsenal.

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He'll start with Arsenal's under-18 team. But there's a chance he could quickly move up to the first team, as Arteta has done with other young players before.

Arsenal's under-18s made it to the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2023, but lost to West Ham. This season, they were knocked out by Liverpool, but the addition of Clarke strengthens a team that's in the top half of the Under-18 Premier League.

When they announced Clarke's arrival, Arsenal said he will be joining as a first-team scholar. They also said he's expected to join the Under-18 squad for their London derby against Crystal Palace on Saturday, reports the Mirror.

Clarke has played 10 times for Wolves' Under-18 side this term. They sit fifth in the Under-18 Premier League's north section, the same position occupied by Arsenal in the south.

It's at international level where the centre-back has really caught the eye, though. He was part of a Wales Under-17 team which qualified for the Euros in 2023, the first Welsh men's age group side to reach a major tournament since way back in 1981.

Clarke formed part of a Wales squad which also included Gabriele Biancheri, the young forward who has trained with Manchester United's first-team this season. They weren't able to make it out of the group, but Clarke's performances in qualifying - where Wales went through unbeaten - caught the eye.

"Brayden was coming back from an injury and it shows how much they think of him," Wolves academy boss Jon Hunter-Barrett said after Wales' qualification. He got selected to go having played limited games for our under-16s and 18s respectively."

He played all three games at the tournament itself, and remains eligible for the under-17 squad as they aim to qualify for the 2024 edition. Clarke started wins against Belgium and Gibraltar to take Wales into the final round of qualifying without conceding a goal, and captained the side in a friendly victory over Bosnia in February.

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