Arsenal have completed the signing of Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia in a deal worth at least £13m.
Mosquera has joined up with his new team-mates in Singapore after agreeing a five-year contract.
The defender said: “There’s been a lot of hard work behind all of this.
“It’s an opportunity that came up and I couldn’t let it pass me by. I’m joining a historic, massive club. When you arrive here with your family, you really feel the greatness of this place.”
The deal for the 21-year-old, who underwent a medical in London, could rise with performance-related add-ons.
Mosquera had entered the final year of his contract at Valencia and turned down offers of a new deal because he wanted to join Arsenal.
Valencia’s statement confirmed that Mosquera only wanted to join Arsenal.
“This decision comes as a result of the clear and unequivocal desire expressed by the player, who has made it clear he did not wish to renew his contract with Valencia CF and expressed his intention to join Arsenal FC exclusively,” the Spanish club’s statement read.
‘An important signing for Arsenal’s future’
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said of the signing: “As a 21-year-old defender, Cristhian has already performed consistently well with significant experience in LaLiga. He is an intelligent player with good pace, who can play centrally and on both sides.
“He is a young player with exciting talent and enormous potential, who will fit well into our squad as we continue to prepare for next season.”
Gunners sporting director Andrea Berta added: “We’re very happy and excited to have signed a hugely talented young player in Cristhian Mosquera. We identified Cristhian as one of the strongest young defenders in European football, and he is an important signing for our future.”
Cristhian Mosquera has played more minutes than any other player aged 21 or under across the last two seasons in Europe’s major leagues
Mosquera was born to Colombian parents in Spain and joined Valencia at the age of 12, going on to make 90 senior appearances and scoring one goal.
He has also made 11 appearances for Spain U21s, starting all of their games at this summer’s U21 European Championship before they were knocked out by England in the quarter-finals.
Mosquera is a naturally right-sided centre-back but has also played on the left and is expected to provide competition for both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Young, physical, composed – Mosquera has talent to be honed
Sky Sports’ Nick Wright:
One of the best indicators of Cristhian Mosquera’s quality can be found in the sheer number of minutes he has played. Since being drafted into the Valencia team at the age of 19 in August 2023, he has started 70 league games out of a possible 72.
In probably the most challenging position on the pitch tactically, and with all the pressure of playing for one of the biggest clubs in Spain as they navigated a turbulent period, the young centre-back came to be seen as undroppable by two different managers.
His total of 6,394 minutes played across the last two seasons is the highest by anyone aged 21 or under in Europe’s top-five leagues. The volume of playing time highlights reliability and robustness. It also gave suitors such as Arsenal plenty to go on.
Clearly they liked what they saw, and they were not the only ones, with Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig also said to have tracked him. He heads to Arsenal with a reputation as one of the the most promising young centre-backs in Europe…
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