Arsenal sign 16-year-old Romanian wonder-kid Vlad Dragomir

Vlad Dragomir will join the club as an academy player

Arsenal have completed the signing of ACS Poli Timisoara midfielder Vlad Dragomir on a three-year deal, for a reported €100,000 (£71,000). The 16-year-old had been on the club’s radar for almost two years.

Despite reported interest from Internazionale and a host of other clubs, he put pen to paper on a deal to join the Gunners, in the presence of his agent Catalin Sarmasan and Dick Law, Arsenal’s transfer negotiator.

“I am very glad and I hope not to disappoint anyone,” said Dragomir. “The Arsenal offer seemed the best to me, I felt that this is my place.”

His agent Catalin Sarmasan holds him in high regard. “I offered Vlad to Arsenal a year-and-a-half ago and they have monitored him closely. In my opinion, he is one of the most talented young players in Europe at the moment.” he said.

Arsenal have one of the best youth systems in the world and their priorities haven’t changed. But the results of the academy team last season were quite disappointing; the U-18s finished dead last out of 8 teams in the Premier Academy League. Bringing in a player of Dragomir’s quality will raise the level of the youth team, very much like how the purchase of Alexis Sanchez galvanized the Arsenal team.

The Romanian Under-16 captain is Arsenal’s first signing of the season, and will join the club as a first-year scholar in late June. He will be under the tutelage of Andries Jonker, the Academy manager who joined the North London club in July 2014.