Trae Coyle, the highly regarded Arsenal striker, will spend next season on loan with Gillingham.
The League One club, which also recruited Zech Medley from the Gunners earlier this week, beat several rivals in their division and overseas to secure the services of Coyle, who enjoyed an impressive 2019/20 in the Under 23 Arsenal.
Coyle scored two goals and provided three assists in 19 games for Steve Bould’s side last season and performed well enough to be invited to train with Mikel Arteta’s first team on several occasions.
In fact, Coyle was part of Arsenal’s post-recovery training team and participated in the first team in a friendly against Brentford at Emirates Stadium.
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Coyle, who signed a professional contract with the Gunners in June 2019, had long been heralded as one of Hale End’s top academy stars, but suffered several injuries in her teens before a relaunch in the second half of the 2018 season. / 19.
Under manager Steve Evans’ leadership, Gillingham is aiming high this season and believes the addition of two promising Arsenal prospects will greatly help their promotion offer.
Speaking of Medley’s signing on Monday, Evans said, “We are delighted that Zech has joined us. The guy has taken his time, has spoken at numerous clubs and is a superb addition.
“I would like to thank the support of Mikel Arteta and his staff at Arsenal for accepting that Zech should continue his training here.”
Coyle and Medley were joined by right-back Zak Swanson leaving Arsenal this week as the youngster joined Dutch side MVV Maastricht. Center forward Tyreece John-Jules and midfielder Matt Smith are among those who should also secure temporary moves in the coming weeks.
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