Deal done as Gunners complete terms to sign defender

The Gunners have officially completed the deal to secure their first new signing of the January transfer window.

Arsene Wenger has maintained a reputation for being able to spot some of the best young players during his reign as manager of Arsenal.

And that tradition has continued this month with the signing of an apparently promising prospect whom few had heard of until recently.

After a week of having to let the surprise news sink in, Cohen Bramall finally put pen to paper on what is reported to be a two-and-a-half-year deal to become an Arsenal player on Tuesday.

The club has now confirmed that the 21-year-old defender will go straight into Steve Gatting’s under-23s squad after joining from seventh tier side Hednesford Town.

And according to Wenger, Bramall could follow the footsteps of Laurent Koscielny, who made a meteoric rise from French minnows Lorient when he moved to Arsenal.

“I believe that when you go down, there’s mental selection,” Wenger said. “It’s a mental test – do you love football enough?

“Are you ready enough to fight [to show] that you are above this level and that you absolutely want to come back? Players like Giroud and Koscielny have had that test. They are similar to that. Once they get up, they really mean it.

“[Bramall] is a young, promising left back who has a lack of experience at the top level but who has fantastic ingredients.

“He has tremendous pace, a good left foot, a great desire to do well. Overall, he’s a very exciting prospect.”