Krystian Bielik is relishing the opportunity to play some more senior football for Charlton Athletic, after completing his loan move to the club on Thursday.

Arsenal officially announced the move on their club website, confirming yesterday’s reports that the youngster will spend the season with the League One side.

Bielik’s far from the first to earn a temporary move from the Gunners to the Addicks, with Stephy Mavididi, Yaya Sanogo and Francis Coquelin notably spending time there in recent seasons. Generally they’ve all had positive spells at the club, and the Polish defender is looking forward to having a similar chance to prove himself.

“It’s a big stadium, a massive stadium, I didn’t know [how big the stadium was],” he said. “It looks good and I’m looking forward to playing at this stadium and doing my best here.

“I want to show everyone that I can play football. It’s a good opportunity for me to play here because I know people are going to watch me and I’m under pressure. That’s what I like, I want to do my best.”

Bielik reportedly managed to impress scouts with his performance against Manchester City over the weekend, despite Arsenal losing the match 6-5. Middlesbrough were also following the 20-year-old, but in the end Charlton won the race for his signature.

The Polish u19 international had a terrible time with injuries in 2017/18. He spent the first half of the campaign playing the occasional game for the Arsenal u23s in between spells on the sidelines, then didn’t manage a single match on loan thanks to further setbacks in the second half of the season.

Hopefully this season he can stay fit and play regularly for Charlton, so he can get chances under Unai Emery on his return next summer.