Highly-rated Arsenal starlet Alex Kirk checked into Somerset Park last night and immediately set his sights on pushing Ayr United into Championship play-off contention.
The towering 19 year-old centre back yesterday penned a season-long loan deal to become Lee Bullen’s sixth signing of the summer.
And the ambitious six foot four inch youngster is convinced that the sky’s the limit under the United gaffer.
Kirk told the Ayrshire Post: “Obviously you can only go game by game, but I don’t see any reason why we can’t get into the play-offs. The sky’s the limit.
“I’m really looking forward to getting started. I came up last week and the manager showed me round and I signed a deal on Thursday, so in terms of being at Ayr United, I was really happy to come up here and play.”
Kirk had been on the fringes of the Arsenal first team last season under manager Mikel Arteta, rubbing shoulders with the likes of £60m man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and £25m rated Scotland star Kieran Tierney.
But he’s decided to make the temporary move north in order to further his football education.
And his loan move to Somerset is being viewed as a real coup for the Honest Men.
Kirk reflected: “It was really good at Arsenal, I was on the bench for one game against West Ham last season and it was just great to see how different players prepare for games and how they prepare as a team, really interesting.
“But in terms of coming here, you can see the club has ambitions and I’m delighted to be a part of that.”
Kirk revealed just what type of player the Ayr United fans can expect to see.
He said: “For someone who is six foot four, I do have physical attributes. I’m strong, I can jump, and I like to carry the ball forward and I do have a range of passing.
“And although I have not played too many minutes of pre-season, I’m desperate to get involved.”
Fans may well catch a glimpse of Kirk tomorrow afternoon when Ayr United kick-off their Premier Sports Club campaign at home to Elgin City.
The youngster could start from the bench in what will be the club’s first competitive game of the new season.
He added: “I definitely want to be available.”
Since joining the Arsenal academy as a youngster, Kirk has represented every age group and signed his first professional contract with the club in January 2021.
Kirk also trained with the Arsenal first-team ahead of their Europa League clash against Slavia Prague.
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