Charlie Gilmour has confirmed his departure from Arsenal after 14 years with the club, as the 20-year-old is set to become a free agent this summer.

Gilmour is a defensive midfielder who made his debut for the first team this season, appearing from the bench in a couple of Europa League group stage matches. For the rest of the season, the 20-year-old has been a regular in the u23s, even captaining the young side on a few occasions.

Nonetheless, it seems he now has to move on, as he confirmed on Instagram that he’s leaving the club as a free agent:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxSizdhlJD2/

It’s sad to see a player on the way out that clearly cares about the club and dreamed of playing for the first team. At the same time, the problem for Gilmour was always going to be that Arsenal already have plenty of young defensive midfielders right now.

Matteo Guendouzi is a couple of months younger than Gilmour and making 46 appearances for the first team. Lucas Torreira is only a few years older and has 49 appearances of his own this season. Even Joe Willock, around half a year younger, has managed a few starts this campaign.

Not quite being able to become an Arsenal regular doesn’t mean Gilmour’s career has to end though. There should be plenty of clubs interested in the tough-tackling midfielder with a good passing range and an excellent penalty record.

If there’s one thing Gilmour can do it’s take a good penalty. I think I only ever saw him miss one.

Here’s a quick comp of his penalties from the last few seasons: pic.twitter.com/hmbQXICQfm

— Dan Critchlow (@afcDW) May 10, 2019

It’s always sad to see academy players leave, especially when they’ve been around as long as Gilmour. Hopefully, it’s just the start of a new chapter in the youngster’s career.