Released Arsenal defender signs for Championship club | OneFootball

Former Arsenal academy player Max Kuczynski has officially signed for Charlton Athletic after leaving the Gunners this summer.

Photo via CharltonAFC.com

Charlton Athletic have officially confirmed that Max Kuczynski has signed for the club, having been released by Arsenal earlier this summer.

“Bringing new players into the academy is always exciting and to do this within the U21s squad is great,” Charlton academy manager Tom Pell said.

“We work a lot on identifying the right characters, players that align with our player profiles, and those that we feel ultimately have the potential to impact our men’s first-team squad in the coming years.

“Therefore it gives me great pleasure to welcome Ty [Ewens-Findlay], Max [Kuczynski] and Paris [Lock] to the club.

“Ty joins us from Cambridge United and Max from Arsenal, both whom ply their trade as central defenders. Paris joins us from AFC Wimbledon after a number of successful non-league Loans and will compliment our exciting attacking options.”

Photo via Arsenal.com

Arsenal officially confirmed Kuczynski’s departure from the club back in June, including his name among a list of academy players to be released at the end of their contracts.

Kuczynski did make competitive appearances for the Arsenal u18s, but only on a couple of occasions. He made his debut as a substitute in a 5-2 win over Chelsea in May 2024, then made his first and only start for the team in a 3-2 victory over West Brom in February 2025.

With the player now ageing out of u18 football, it was ultimately little surprise the club decided to let him leave and find a club willing to give him more regular opportunities.

Kuczynski already made a handful of appearances on trial for Charlton’s youth teams last season, so they know what they’re getting with him.

Photo via Arsenal.com

Charlton are currently playing in the Championship, and they won their opening fixture against Watford last weekend. But as Charlton’s academy manager mentions, the plan is evidently for Kuczynski to start off in the u21 team.