Arsenal have reportedly managed to snap up highly-rated Estonian Under-17 star Karl Jakob Hein, beating Manchester United to land the Nomme United goalkeeper.
According to Daily Mail, Arsenal have completed the signing of Karl Jakob Hein from Nomme United. The Estonian Under-17 star has agreed to join Arsenal’s academy setup, refuting interest from a host of Premier League clubs, chief among them being Manchester United.
Karl Jakob Hein is a 16-year-old goalkeeping prodigy who has already tasted first-team action at Nomme United in the third-tier of the Estonian league. The youngster kept two clean sheets in the five games for the first-team while his record at the youth level was far better, recording shutouts in three of the four games.
At Arsenal, a revolution has begun with the departure of Arsene Wenger and the subsequent arrival of Unai Emery, who will attempt to steer the Gunners in a positive direction. Arsenal though, have had a fair share of youngsters leaving the academy setup in search of a faster track to the first-team, something the three-time Europa League winner will be looking to address.
Manchester United, on the other hand, have invested heavily in youth recruitment for the past 18 months, with the focus finally starting to bear fruit for the club. The youngsters laid their hands on the Under-18 Premier League title and several of the players have been tipped for a bright future at the club.
Arsenal beat Manchester United to sign Estonia U17 goalkeeper Karl Jakob Hein https://t.co/NYPjpGcJpg pic.twitter.com/S0LJJgiIhg
— Jeorge Bird (@jeorgebird) May 23, 2018
Karl Jakob Hein had, in fact, gone on trial at several Premier League clubs, with Manchester United, Brighton and Southampton among the clubs that were named in the report. But, the player has decided to reject any potential chances of signing for the aforementioned clubs by agreeing a switch to Arsenal.
According to the report, Karl Jakob Hein will join the club as a scholar and has agreed to a one-year deal with an option to extend it for a further three years.
That the 16-year-old chose to join Arsenal instead of other Premier League clubs, especially Manchester United, could be more down to the impression that the two clubs left on the youngster, his preference or perhaps the fact that United look stocked in Hein’s position right now.
Arsenal, on the other hand, are likely to say goodbye to Arthur Okonkwo, which will free up the space for Hein. Whatever may have been the reason for Hein’s choice, Arsenal have managed to land a promising young goalkeeper. As for Hein, the Nomme United graduate will be looking to impress the coaches at his new club.
