Arsenal to sign 16-year-old Ecuadorian twins

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Arsenal are set to sign 16-year-old Ecuadorian twins Edwin and Holger Quintero, with the pair to officially join the Gunners when they turn 18.

They are due in London this week to finalise the move and are expected to sign five-year contracts, commencing from August 2027.

Right-sided winger Edwin has been likened to Brazil forward Neymar by local media, with Holger - an attacking midfielder - compared to former Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara.

The players will join from Ecuadorian Serie A club Independiente Del Valle, with reports suggesting a fee for the pair could reach £9m.

The Independiente academy has a track record of producing talent, with Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie - who is on loan from Bayer Leverkusen but with an option to make the deal permanent - Chelsea's £100m midfielder Moises Caicedo and Kendry Paez also coming through their youth setup.

This deal has been in progress for well over a year and is the latest part of Arsenal's change in strategy, as they look to recruit some of the best young players in the world.

The brothers are likely to join the club's academy but, if by the time they arrive in 2027 they have developed enough to be a first-team option, they will be fast-tracked to the senior squad.

Arsenal's London rivals Chelsea have become successful in this area, signing a number of highly rated young players from across the globe - with Brazil winger Estevao Willian the latest to make the breakthrough at Stamford Bridge.

The first signing that Arsenal made in this area, which started a change in youth recruitment, was when they brought in goalkeeper Tommy Setford from Ajax.

That deal was slightly different to the ones for the Quintero twins as Setford was always earmarked to go straight into the first-team squad, and the England youth international is the third-choice goalkeeper for Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal also confirmed the signing of 16-year-old Shamrock Rovers forward Victor Ozhianvuna in October.

The Republic of Ireland Under-17 international has already played first-team football and will also join the club when he turns 18, which is in January 2027.

Ozhianvuna became the second-youngest player to feature in the Uefa Conference League when he came on as a substitute for Shamrock against Molde.

Arteta has also spoken previously of how discussions about Arsenal becoming part of a multi-club model have taken place internally.

Premier League and EFL clubs can only officially sign foreign players after they turn 18, because of changes brought about by Brexit.

The rules on what clubs can do around signing players who are under 18 from Europe and across the world changed post-Brexit., external

Premier League clubs who want to sign players from EU countries will be required to gain a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE), which is what applies to all other overseas players without the right to work in the UK.

The GBE operates on a points-based system and points are scored for senior and talented young players, based on senior and youth international appearances, the quality of the selling club, the league they are in, league position and progression in continental competition and club appearances, based on domestic league and continental competition minutes.

There have also been restrictions placed on the number of under-21 players a club can sign in one window.

In the Premier League, the number of overseas under-21 players a club can sign has been limited to three in the January transfer window and six per season.

Under Fifa's rules, the UK's exit from the EU also means that clubs will not be able to sign players from overseas until they are 18, which is why Arsenal's recent young signings cannot join until their 18th birthday.

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