Alfie Matthews sends farewell message to Arsenal as he confirms exit | OneFootball

Alfie Matthews posted a farewell message to Arsenal on Friday, as he leaves the club after 11 years with the academy.

Writing on Instagram on Friday, Alfie Matthews formally confirmed his departure from Arsenal, writing a message to say goodbye to the club.

Instagram 📸

The 18-year-old was on an ‘excess period’ with Arsenal after his contract came to an end this summer. But it was always likely that period would result in his departure.

Matthews is seemingly still on trial with the Crystal Palace u23s at the moment. He posted on Instagram that he “can’t wait to announce” his “new club”, but we have no official details right now. He played another friendly match for them on Saturday.

The young forward scored five goals and assisted one in 15 u18 PL games last season. He was on a good run of form pre-lockdown, notching four of those goal contributions in his last six games.

The timing of his departure is certainly going to make things interesting at youth level this season. Tyreece John-Jules is closing in on a loan, Folarin Balogun is likely to leave permanently, as Sam Greenwood already has.

With Matthews leaving as well, Arsenal are looking at starting Luke Plange (17) or Khayon Edwards (16) up front for the u23s in 2020/21.