Trae Coyle ends long association with Arsenal by joining Lausanne-Sport permanently

Trae Coyle has left Arsenal permanently to join Swiss side Lausanne-Sport.

A product of the club’s Hale End academy which he joined in 2008, Coyle was extremely highly rated as a schoolboy, featuring in the UEFA Youth League in 2016.

The winger, who can also play as an attacking midfielder, signed scholarship terms in 2017 and subsequently progressed to a professional deal.

A spell out injured affected his progress, but Coyle was part of the Arsenal U18s side that won the southern section title in 2019, while he also featured in the FA Youth Cup final defeat to Chelsea the previous year.

Having made his U23s debut in December 2017, Coyle eventually went on to feature prominently at that level but his end product was lacking at times.

Coyle had a spell on loan at Gillingham last season but it was cut short in the middle of the campaign as he had mainly been used as a substitute.

Despite leaving Arsenal without having made a competitive first-team appearance, Coyle, who was nominated for the Golden Boy award last year, did make a late appearance as a substitute in a friendly against Brentford last year.

Overall, Coyle’s departure isn’t a major surprise as, at the age of 20, he is at the stage where he needs to play regular football.

It is a shame, though, that a player who showed much promise as a schoolboy was unable to live up to those expectations, although injuries didn’t help his cause.

At times Coyle seemed too indecisive with regards to taking players on and that is perhaps what prevented him from making further progress.

It is hoped that he will now be able to push on in Switzerland. By signing for Lausanne-Sport he will be linking up with another former Arsenal academy player in defender Elton Monteiro.