Daniel Crowley is looking forward to working under new academy head coach Andries Jonker after signing his first professional contract with Arsenal.
Crowley, who has just turned 17, joined the Gunners from Aston Villa last summer and caught the eye with some fine performances for the under-18s last term.
The playmaker has been impressive in pre-season, scoring five goals in three games including a sublime strike against Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday, and the England youth international is eager to maintain his form when the competitive action begins.
"Hopefully I can improve the defensive side of my game under him"
"I had two bad injuries last year and I found it hard to get into the speed of it," Crowley told Arsenal.com. "But hopefully this season I can push on and play week-in, week-out for the under-21s.
"We've done a lot better in pre-season than last year and we've done a lot of fitness work to help us get physically stronger so we can compete against these sort of sides. We're hoping to win the league this season so it's important we get off to a good start.
"Andries [Jonker] has been brilliant since he started. You can see how much knowledge he has just by talking to him a couple of times and you can see who he's worked with in the past.
"It's great for the whole club. Liam [Brady] is a fantastic coach and a great role model and now it's a fresh start for everyone.
"Andries has worked with the best players in the world. Hopefully I can improve the defensive side of my game under him."
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