Former Arsenal youth player Bless Akolbire has confirmed his transfer from the Emirates Stadium to fellow Premier League side Leicester City with a message on social media.
There had been initial confusion over the player, with him appearing for Leicester’s U18s on a trial basis back in November before returning to Arsenal and featuring in the U18 Premier League clash against West Ham United. He then appeared to return to Leicester at the start of this month and has featured for the club’s U18 side three times.
Despite no confirmation of a move being made, he then appeared on the list of U21 players in Leicester’s Premier League squad published by the league earlier this month, all but confirming the move. It was, however, claimed at the time that no contract had been signed.
It has now, however, been confirmed by the player himself that he has put pen-to-paper on his first professional contract with Leicester.
Taking to Instagram this week, he shared a video on Instagram showing him in and around Leicester’s Seagrave training ground, holding the shirt and signing a contract, along with a caption reading: “New Blessings.”
The posts prompted responses from another former Arsenal academy product, Chido Obi, who replied with: “My brother,” and a raising hands emoji. Obi completed a move of his own from Arsenal to Manchester United in the summer and made his first-team debut last week.
Akolbire has previously been pictured taking part in training with Mikel Arteta’s first team. It’s something he’ll now look to replicate with Leicester City as he aims to impress Ruud van Nistelrooy and break into the first team at the King Power Stadium.
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