TRUST FUND Arsenal finally complete first senior transfer of January window but Auston Trusty returns to Colorado Rapids on loan

ARSENAL have finally made a signing - and then sent him straight back out on loan.

Posted Tuesday, February 01, 2022 by Thesun.co.uk

The Gunners completed a deal on deadline day to land Auston Trusty from Colorado Rapids, Stan Kroenke's MLS team.

TRUST FUND Arsenal finally complete first senior transfer of January window but Auston Trusty returns to Colorado Rapids on loan
Arsenal have completed the signing of Auston Trusty but have sent him back to Colorado Rapids on loan Credit: Getty

He is the first senior player to join the club during the January transfer window - three hours before the deadline.

But the 23-year-old defender will spend the remainder of this season with the American side.

Arsenal confirmed the intention is to send Trusty out to Europe to gain experience in 2022-23 - and didn't even bother tweeting the news.

The USA Under-20 international joined Colorado Rapids from Philadelphia Union in November 2019.

He has made 41 appearances, notably helping the Rapids finish top of the Western Conference in the 2021 MLS regular season.

Centre-back Trusty has had four years in the MLS and won the Concacaf U20 Championship in 2017.

Lino Sousa is Arsenal's only other January transfer - in a month where they let six senior players leave.

Sousa, 17, penned his first pro contract as he joined the Gunners academy from West Brom.

But the likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Alexander Isak, Arthur and Alvaro Morata all failed to arrive despite interest from Mikel Arteta.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is on the brink of a free permanent transfer to Barcelona.

He follows Sead Kolasinac, Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Folarin Balogun and Pablo Mari as the first-teamers to leave.

That leaves Arteta with just 20 senior squad members for the remainder of the season as the Gunners chase a top-four finish on a streamlined set of players.

They currently sit sixth, two points behind Manchester United who occupy the final Champions League spot - but they do have a game in hand on their Old Trafford rivals.