Former Arsenal fullback Cedric Evina has joined Crawley Town on a season-long loan deal from Doncaster Rovers.

According to the Crawley Observer, the French defender has already trained with his new team-mates and will be managed by former Liverpool midfielder Harry Kewell in League Two this coming season.

The 25-year-old spent eleven years at Arsenal before being released in January 2011. Captain of the FA Youth Cup side during the 2009/10 campaign, Evina was an important component of the squad that won the FA Premier Academy League.

He joined Oldham Athletic on a loan deal in October 2010, turning it permanent on deadline day of the January transfer window. Evina won the Young Player of the Year award that season before rejecting a new contract extension to join a club closer to home.

The full-back signed an initial two-year contract at Charlton Athletic and made 34 appearances before being released in May 2014. And despite going on to make a total of 94 appearances in three seasons for Doncaster Rovers, Evina saw his starting berth at left-back vanish shortly before Christmas.

He’s only made one league appearance since as a substitute, and is regularly unused from the bench, or not involved in the matchday squad altogether.

As a result, a loan deal makes sense over a permanent offer as Evina will be keen to put last season’s struggles behind him and justify why he was worth another opportunity among different surroundings, let alone Crawley not wanting to take a potential costly risk.