Arsenal complete first transfer of 2025 to sign versatile player who impressed Wilshere

The Gunners have reached an agreement on a six-figure deal to sign St Johnstone’s rising star Callan Hamill, with the teenager set to join them at the end of the season.

Mikel Arteta’s side remained inactive in January despite facing an increasing injury crisis in attack. Attempts to sign Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins were unsuccessful, while a rumored renewed pursuit of Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic also failed to materialize.

As a result, Hamill, 15, will be Arsenal’s first recruit of 2025. Capable of playing across the defense or in midfield, he has already represented Scotland at Under-16 and Under-17 levels.

The young talent recently made headlines by scoring his first goal for Scotland’s Under-16 team in a victory over Cyprus.

Hamill’s move to Arsenal follows previous interest from Rangers and Celtic last summer, but instead of making a switch to either of the Glasgow giants, he opted to extend his stay with St Johnstone.

Back in 2024, The Scottish Sun reported that Hamill caught the attention of Jack Wilshere during the latter’s tenure as Arsenal’s Under-18s coach.

Although Wilshere has since departed North London to become a first-team coach at Norwich under Johannes Hoff Thorup, The Athletic states that Hamill will still finalize his move to Arsenal on July 1.

Several young players previously coached by Wilshere have already had opportunities to train or play with the senior team.

Goalkeeper Jack Porter was called upon in the Carabao Cup during the autumn, while 15-year-old Max Dowman has been involved in first-team training sessions.

“Very impressive at his age,” manager Arteta said of Dowman. “Some of the things he does in training are unbelievable. He’s a player with a huge talent that we have a lot belief that we can develop him into becoming one of our own and he’s doing very well so far.”

Although Hamill is set to be Arsenal’s first new recruit in 2025, the club is also edging closer to securing their first senior signing.

Spanish goalkeeper Joan Garcia has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time as they look to bring in a reliable deputy for David Raya. Now, his current club Espanyol seems to be signaling openness to a potential summer transfer.

“Clause or nothing? No. In the [last] summer window, with call from Arsenal in the last week, it has to be that [clause],” Espanyol sporting director Fran Garagarza told Pericos Marca, as per Sport Witness.

“But if you get an offer on June 14th that isn’t the clause but is close in fixed and variable amounts, Espanyol are not going to say no. We can’t say no. If a club comes with €8m (£6.6m) for Joan García, that’s a bad sale, 100%.”

Arsenal parted ways with backup goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale over the summer, selling him to Southampton and bringing in Neto on loan from Bournemouth.

However, the Brazilian has made only a single appearance for the club, and there have been no indications that he will remain in London beyond the season.