Southend boss expecting big things from Arsenal midfielder Olayinka

Arsenal midfielder, James Olayinka, joins Southend United with expectations of hitting the ground running.

The 20-year-old bolsters Mark Molesley’s squad, joining from the Premier League side until 27th January, 2021.

Molesley said: “We’re really pleased to bring James in. He’s been on our shortlist for some time and we’ve had him watched a number of times.

“He’s been well identified to us from our recruitment [team] and comes well recommended from people in and around Arsenal.

“He’s had a very good education at Arsenal and we’re indebted to them for trusting us with one of their young talents.

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“I said if we felt we could add value we’d always look to do that and we’ve certainly done that with James.”

On what the midfielder will bring, Molesley added: “The good thing about James is he can play a couple of different positions and that’s because of his physicality and energy.

“Coming out of Arsenal he’s going to be technically good but definitely his work ethic, energy and athleticism stuck out to us straight away. He does a lot of other things good as well so he’s one we’re excited to be working with.

“He had a taste of it with Northampton which got cut short due to Covid but he played in their play-off run.

“I’m really excited to go to work with him over the coming months and I’d like to thank the Chairman for supporting us again to get the deal done.”