Bartley departs Arsenal

By Nick Lander

Young centre back Kyle Bartley has joined Swansea City on a permanent basis. The Mancunian stopper has spent much of his time as an Arsenal player on loan, enjoying his best spells in the SPL with Rangers last season and the season before that, being part of the squad that won the 2010/11 SPL title.

Bartley said on his Twitter that, "[it] was an extremely tough decision for me to leave Arsenal, but felt the time was right. Swansea offered me an opportunity, and I'm extremely excited to start my career here, will always be thankful to Arsenal for my education.

"[I] was told my chances of game time this year would be limited, and as an ambitious young player I wanted to play in the Premiership.

"Now I'm here I will give 100% for Swansea. Thank you everyone who has been behind me. [A] new chapter for me and I can't wait."

The youngster has left the Gunners for £1m, though it is likely that the club has included a hefty sell on clause - as seems to be their preference at the moment - and may include a buy back clause too (one was surprisingly included in Carlos Vela's departure so it's plausible).

While he featured regularly on the club's Asia tour this pre-season, Captain-elect Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Johan Djourou were all ahead of the 21-year-old in the Arsenal pecking order. With little chance of any first team action barring another defensive injury crisis, the former Bolton man now has a good chance to carve out a Premier League career for himself, and The N5 Blog would like to wish him the best of luck in Wales - except for in the two games against Arsenal!

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