Arsenal have brought Reading’s former Head of Academy Player Development Lewis Goater to the club as coach of the u9s, according to reports.

Lewis Goater (Photo via LinkedIn)
Lewis Goater (Photo via LinkedIn)

Goater worked as a coach with the Reading Academy for 11 seasons until last July, when he made the step up to become Head of Academy Player Development at the club. Now, it seems Arsenal are bringing him back into coaching, as Training Ground Guru report they’re giving him a job with the u9 side.

Arsenal have already poached one member of Reading’s academy staff recently, hiring Reading Academy Manager Lee Herron as Football Operations Manager for the club. They also brought Reading goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo to North London in July 2017.

The Gunners are clearly hoping to keep their academy as one of the best around, with all the appointments they’ve made in the last year.

From Freddie Ljungberg joining the u23s to former MK Dons boss Dan Micciche taking charge of the u15s and Hull City Head of Academy Coaching Adam Pilling taking over the u13s, the club are certainly investing in developing young players.

Let’s hope that eventually leads to plenty of youth stars progressing to the first team in the future.