Young Arsenal defender Marc Bola has sealed his season-long loan move to Bristol Rovers this summer. The 19-year-old spent the previous campaign on a short-term loan with fourth-tier club Notts County where he made 13 league appearances, as per Arsenal.com.
The youngster has yet to break into the Gunners first-team squad, but he has been offered the chance to earn valuable playing time over the course of the 2017/18 season.
Bola will link up with Darrell Clarke’s side who are due to travel to Portugal next week where they have setup their pre-season training camp.
“I had a phone call telling me Rovers were interested in signing me on loan and I was delighted to come down here,” he told the Rovers’ official website.
The left-back joined the Gunners’ academy back in 2010 and has since promoted through the ranks to the Under-23s where he had been plying his trade for the past three seasons.
Prior to his move to Notts County in the second half of last season, Bola had spent time in the youth squads where he managed 11 league and cup appearances in total.
The left-back spot is currently not a position of worry for the north London giants with the likes of Nacho Monreal, Sead Kolasinac and Kieran Gibbs in the mix, Bola could evolve into a better player with a full season on loan at the Memorial Stadium.
In recent years, Arsenal have seen very few graduates being promoted to the first-team squad and the club’s new policy of recruiting foreign players could make it tougher for Bola to push for a place in Arsene Wenger’s team.
