Ainsley Maitland-Niles joined a select band of English players playing in Ligue 1 when he signed for Lyon at the start of last season.
Our former academy product spent 20 years with us, having signed in the pre-academy at the age of six, but left after his contract expired last summer.
A versatile midfielder who also spent a lot of his Gunners career at full-back, Ainsley played more than 100 times for our first team, after making his debut aged just 17 in December 2014.
That made him the 17th youngest player in the club’s history, and after a successful loan spell at Ipswich Town, he went on to play for us in each of the following six seasons, winning two Community Shields, playing in the 2019 Europa League final and lifting the 2020 FA Cup, after playing the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 win over Chelsea at Wembley.