Arsenal have confirmed that Zech Medley will join League One, Gillingham on loan for the 2020/21 season.
The centre-back joined the Gunners in 2016 from Chelsea and has impressed since, becoming a key member of the Under-23s side and making his first team debut in the 2018/19 Europa League campaign.
Last season, he made 15 appearances across the Premier League 2 and EFL Trophy for Steve Bould's side and unexpectedly scored a brace in the young Gunners' 4-3 Premier League International Cup win over Monaco in March.
Medley came close to making further first team appearances under both Freddie Ljungberg and Mikel Arteta last season.
As interim head coach, Ljungberg included the youngster in his matchday squad for the Europa League trip to Standard Liege alongside Tyreece John-Jules, James Olayinka, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Robbie Burton.
He was once again named on the bench away at Brighton on June 20 following an injury to Sokratis days ahead of the game but didn't come on.
He trained with the first team regularly after the restart.
After the confirmation of the signing, Gillingham manager Steve Evans spoke about the addition of Medley to his side and how much that could mean for the 2020/21 campaign.
“We are delighted that Zech has joined us," he told Gillingham's official website.
“The lad has taken his time, spoken to numerous clubs and he is a superb addition.
“I would like to acknowledge the support of Mikel Arteta and his staff at Arsenal for agreeing that Zech should continue his education here.
“He is actually a Medway boy, he went to school in Gillingham and his family still live here, in many ways he is one of our own.”
