Arthur Okonowko joined the Railwaymen on loan from Arsenal in the summer of July 2021. In this article, The Real EFL will go into detail and assess what the future could hold for the 21-year-old goalkeeper.
Arthur has worked his way up from London Colney to the main academy at Arsenal and has excelled at every level. He is thought of highly and this led to him being rewarded with a new three-year deal back in 2021.
He was handed his debut in the pre-season of Summer 2021, playing against Scottish Premiership sides Hibernian and Rangers. However, despite having a frustrating opening game against Hibernian, Mikel Arteta showed his faith in him by playing in the following game against Rangers.
Arsenal’s pre-season campaign gets off to the worst possible start as Arthur Okonkwo’s blunder saw the Gunners lose to Hibernian #AFChttps://t.co/XJUMmUrjp1
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 13, 2021
Moving into the season, Arthur joined The Railwaymen on the 29th of July. The move was met with positivity from both sets of fans, but most of the credit can go down to Fred Barber the Crewe Alexandra goalkeeping coach, who used current Arsenal number one, Aaron Ramsdale to help secure Arthur’s services with the League Two side.
Moving into his performances this season so far, Arthur has set League Two alight with back-to-back penalty saves and multiple game-changing saves. He has transformed Crewe adding some stability to their back line helping them to nine clean-sheets this season alone.
Continuing into individual achievements, he has saved two penalties to-date. On top of this, he has made 78 saves in 23 games, averaging just over three saves per game. His best game of the season came against Colchester, where he helped secure his side a one-nil win making six saves, four of them coming from inside of the box.
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Crewe currently sit 17th in League Two and, I think they could be sitting lower if Arthur had not put in some of the performances that he has this season. He is expected to see out his loan to Crewe and will be hoping to add more clean sheets to his tally.
Arthur will definitely have his sights set on the third-choice goalkeeping spot at Arsenal. Although when he goes back to the Gunners, he will compete with Estonian national goalkeeper Karl Hein. He has the talent to be able to do so in my eyes, as long as he stays focused he will be a name to remember in the future.
Crewe fans, What are your thoughts on his time at the club so far?
