Arsenal have sealed their first transfer ahead of the new season and, in true Arsene Wenger style, it’s a kid.

Not a young player, but an actual kid – 11-year-old Charlie Patino from Luton Town.

Costing the club £10,000 in compensation, the ‘wonderkid‘ had been linked with Arsenal for a while with his dad confirming an offer from the Gunners at the start of the month.

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Charlie Patino

 

Targeted by Chelsea and Tottenham, Arsenal wasted no time in getting the kid’s family to the club to have a look around the facilities and given Arsene Wenger’s track record of developing young players, it’s no surprise that his family have said yes to the man from the Arsenal.

His dad said in May Charlie is only 11 but he gets it and he knows what is happening to him.

“He knows that this is a big opportunity to train with a top club, even though there are no guarantees at the end of it.”

As I said at the time, it’s hard not to feel slightly uncomfortable about all this given the child’s age but this is football now and we are only going to see bigger and bigger sums changing hands for kids who really should be out on the street kicking a football with their mates.

Still, least we landed him and not one of those other lot, eh?