Arsenal youth defender Taylor Foran has signed a professional contract with the club, after another promising season in youth football.

Taylor Foran signing his new contract with Arsenal (Photo via Arsenal.com)
Taylor Foran signing his new contract with Arsenal (Photo via Arsenal.com)

Arsenal 18-year-old Taylor Foran has signed a professional deal with the Gunners, a little over 10 years after joining the club.

“I’m absolutely buzzing, it’s been a dream come true,” Foran said.

“Everyone around the building is so nice, the vibe is just unexplainable, everyone is out to help each other and I just knew it was the right place for me to continue my journey.”

Foran made over appearances for Arsenal’s youth teams this season, scoring a couple of goals. The centre-back stepped up for a few opportunities at u21/u23 level, but he mostly featured for the u18s – regularly as their captain.

Now that he’s 18, Foran will be playing exclusively for the u21s and up from this season onwards.

Some of you might remember Foran’s u23 debut, when he was forced to play in goal against Manchester City in October 2020.

Arsenal were down to 10 men and lost 4-1, but the defender gave a good account of himself in over 80 minutes spent out of position.

It was a case of putting the team before the individual, something which always ends up casting the individual in a positive light. Foran’s teammates were certainly grateful to him on the day, despite the result.

Taylor Foran coming on for Tim Akinola in goal for the Arsenal u23s
Taylor Foran coming on for Tim Akinola in goal for the Arsenal u23s

Fortunately, Foran has been able to spend most of the rest of the last couple of seasons playing in his favoured defensive position. With his new contract, he’ll be looking forward to doing so for Arsenal for a while yet.