Bristol City's hopes of earning promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking have been boosted by the signing of Arsenal youngster Jordan Wynter.

City finished rooted to the bottom of the second tier last season but have begun preparations for life in League One with the addition of Wynter, who had signed a professional contract with The Gunners last summer.

Despite opportunities in Arsenal's Under-21 and Nextgen Series sides likely to swell, Wynter has been swayed to join The Robins with the carrot of regular first-team football.

Wynter becomes the fourth Arsenal youngster to leave the club this summer after Martin Angha signed a pre-contract agreement with Nurnberg despite impressing in the club's Nextgen Series side which reached the semi-final stage, while Kyle Ebecilio has moved to FC Twente and Craig Eastmond moved to Colchester United.

Arsene Wenger
Wenger has allowed another riding star from the academy to leave the club on a permanent basis.

"Jordan is a versatile player schooled at Arsenal Football Club," manager Sean O'Driscoll said.

"He is comfortable in possession, strong physically and a welcome addition to the club as we try to change the dynamic of the squad.

"He is a young player we feel we can develop, and one that has all the desire and hunger to succeed."

The 19 year old wrote on Twitter: "Excited to finally declare i have signed for Bristol City! Looking forward to the season coming up! Thanking Arsenal for everything![sic]"

"Buzzing to be apart of the 1st team set up, love all the new fans tweeting me! Can't wait to start in July!

"Love to both sets of fans making me feel positive about my decision. A warm welcome is an understatement!"

The departures represent an annual clear-out of Arsenal's academy which while it carries a reputation of being among the highest respected finishing schools in Britain, automatic transition into the first team has seldom followed.

After taking over in January, O'Driscoll won just five of his 10 games in charge of City, leading to the departure of seven first team players at the end of their contracts; the precursor to a major squad overhaul ahead of an assault on promotion next season.

"We wanted to keep the likes of Tom Heaton, Cole Skuse and Jon Stead, of course, but the reality is they all wanted to play in the Championship," O'Driscoll added.

"They all kept us abreast of their respective situations and all behaved impeccably throughout, so it wasn't really any big surprise to us when they left the club."

Twitter