Arsenal academy graduate Xavier Amaechi is joining Bolton Wanderers on loan from Hamburg, according to reports.

Charles Watts reports that Xavier Amaechi has joined Bolton Wanderers in a straight loan from Hamburg.

Football Insider had initially reported that Amaechi was undergoing a trial at Bolton, as they plot a potential move. But Watts writes that these claims are wide of the mark, and it’s simply a loan deal without a trial.

Amaechi left Arsenal in the summer of 2019 to join Hamburg in the German second tier, where he still has a contract until 2023. But he barely appeared on the pitch in his first campaign, and a second season January loan to Karlsruher wasn’t much more successful.

Between the two clubs, Amaechi has made 12 senior appearances in two seasons, for a total of 228 minutes. But he’s still young, at 20, and there’s plenty of time to get his career back on track with a better loan.

The winger will hope a return to England will provide that opportunity, and there’s clearly still some belief in him in his home country. He made the England u20 squad last October and scored a very nice goal.

Bolton have just achieved promotion to League One after a third-place finish in League Two last season.

It’s in Arsenal’s interest for Amaechi to do well for more than just sentimental reasons, as they have a sell-on clause in his Hamburg contract.