Arsenal took time away from the ongoing talks with Petr Cech to announce the signing of 16-year-old Vlad Dragomir, in a deal worth up to £71,000.
The Romanian midfielder was unveiled this afternoon as Arsenal presented their first official signing of the summer transfer window. The signing of Dragomir emphasises Arsene Wenger’s clear approach of unearthing and nurturing young talent from the very bottom of the footballing scale. The question that many Arsenal fans will be asking this evening is who is this youngster that has caught Wenger’s eye, and how good is he?
Who is he?
Dragomir is a 16-year-old Romanian midfielder was signed from ACS Poli Timisoara. Whilst captaining his country at under-16 level, the midfielder attracted interest from big clubs including Inter Milan and Monaco respectively.
In a clip that went viral on the internet, it is clear as to why many clubs were chasing Dragomir, having witnessed the youngster take complete control of a game and score an unbelievably outrageous goal with the outside of his boot. Wenger wouldn’t have signed him because of his goal scoring record, but for his sheer dermination to learn the ‘beautiful game’ and to be up there with Romanian greats like Gheorghe Hagi.
The Deal
It is believed that the youngster, who only turned 16 in April, will come to North London as a scholar playing for one of the finest clubs in Europe, which Dragomir happily admitted in an interview after putting pen to paper. It is believed the Romanian found Arsenal the most attractive proposition as they are renowned for giving young players the chance to showcase their talent in the first team.
According to his agent, Catalin Sarmasan, who posted photo’s of his client signing for Arsenal on Facebook this afternoon, Wenger had monitored Dragomir for over a year whilst pondering on whether to make a bid.
In an interview with Prosport, he said, “I proposed Vlad to Arsenal a year and a half ago, during which they have monitored him closely since.”
There is no doubt Dragomir will be one for the future, joining that long list of youngsters that have risen through the ranks at the Emirates under Wenger, the man with an eye for talent.
