Elijah Upson reveals 'big reason' he snubbed Tottenham deal for Arsenal move | OneFootball

Son of ex-Gunners defender Matthew Upson has crossed the north London divide

Elijah Upson has explained his decision to leave Tottenham and join Arsenal after completing a move across north London.

The 18-year-old, who is the son of former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson, was offered a professional contract by Spurs but turned that down to consider his options elsewhere.

The centre-back revealed that the pathway into Arsenal's first team and the quality of the defenders in the squad to learn from persuaded him that this was the right club.

"That was one of the big reasons for my decision - obviously great exposure to some of these great players that have had a great season here and some real top quality," Upson said.

"I'm excited to hopefully be around and work with these people.

"I think definitely the centre-back partnership in the first team that there is between [William] Saliba and Gabriel, they're a good inspiration and really experienced, high-quality players.

"They've had a great season, definitely two players that I'm really keen to learn from and expose myself to hopefully."

Asked about how he wants to develop in his first season at the club, Upson revealed he wanted "some exposure to the first team", but that the focus would be a "good foundation of games in the [Under-]21s".

Upson has been given the No57 shirt and will now settle in at the training ground for pre-season.

He has represented England at U18s level and also captained Tottenham in that age group.

While Spurs were keen for him to remain at the club, Upson opted to leave when his scholarship terms expired at the end of the season.

"It's a great feeling, really proud to be here," he said.

"When I met the guys here recently and met all the team and staff, it just seemed like a really nice environment.

"That was probably the biggest factor, an environment where you feel you can hopefully learn and get better as a person."