Arsenal are set to include Albanian youth defender Maldini Kacurri in their scholarship intake for next season, signing him after his spell at Fulham.

Chris Wheatley reports that Arsenal have signed 16-year-old defender Maldini Kacurri following his release by Fulham.

Jeorge Bird adds that Kacurri will be included in the club’s scholarship intake next season.

As well as previously playing for Fulham, Kacurri is also an u17 youth international. He made a couple of appearances for the Albania u17s last summer.

Kacurri has already featured on the pitch for Arsenal, playing well in a friendly academy match against Garuda Select.

Arsenal have made a recent habit of signing up young players with uncertain contract situations from the other London clubs, with the likes of Jonathan Dinzeyi (Tottenham Hotspur) and Amani Richards (Chelsea) joining in recent seasons.

From Fulham specifically, Arsenal brought in Mika Biereth last summer, who has been excellent this season.

The striker has arguably been one of the top-performing youth players this campaign, and certainly the best Arsenal youth signing of this season so far.

If Kacurri can have anything like the same impact with the Arsenal u18s in the coming seasons as Biereth has been having with the u23s this campaign, he’d make an excellent addition.