Arsenal finally announced the triple signing of Joel Lopez, Sam Greenwood and Karl Hein this week, even though we’ve known for a long while that all three were joining the club.

Arsenal posted an article on the club website to confirm that the three 16-year-old players have signed as first year scholars. Greenwood and Hein both appeared in the squads for the academy teams this week, and Hein had already played a few minutes for the u23s in pre-season, so it’s particularly unsurprising to hear he’s joined the club.

Lopez, on the other hand, is yet to make his academy debut. Joining from Barcelona, he’ll have the chance to play for the u18s in a big game against Chelsea next Saturday.

Greenwood joined from Sunderland in July, which is when the Black Cats announced his departure. The striker scored 21 goals in 26 games for Sunderland’s u16 and u18 teams last season. He also provided six assists in the u18 Premier League, and earned three appearances for England’s u16s.

Meanwhile, Hein was actually one of Arsenal’s first signings of the summer. The goalkeeper joined from Nomme United, in the Estonian third tier. He’d already appeared for the first team even before he turned 16. He’s also made his debut for the Estonia u17 national team, and made seven further appearances since then.

Now they’ve officially been announced, hopefully the trio can get down to business and focus on getting some wins for the u18s, before they all sign professional terms at 17.