Arsenal have announced the signing of Colorado Rapids defender Auston Trusty. Trusty will remain on loan with the Colorado Rapids for the remainder of the season, before joining up with Arsenal in the summer, a similar situation to the one Arsenal found themselves in when they signed William Saliba from Saint-Étienne. The fee is reported to be around £1.8m.

It’s not quite the explosive end to the January window that Arsenal fans had hoped for, but the signing of the 23-year-old does at least guarantee one bit of business that Arsenal will likely not need to worry about in the summer.

Trusty plays as a central defender and will likely play as an understudy to Gabriel Magalhães, as the American is left-footed.

Trusty plays as a central defender and will likely play as an understudy to Gabriel Magalhães, as the American is left-footed. started his career at Bethlehem Steel , a reserve affiliate of Philadelphia Union, playing 44 games for them before moving permanently to Philadelphia Union, where he drew a huge amount of interest.

He played every single minute of his first season with the club and scored his first-ever professional goal against Montreal Impact.

He eventually moved to the Colorado Rapids, where he has played a pivotal role in the team’s rise of the MLS Western Conference.

Standing at a staggering 6’4, the 23-year-old central defender will be a welcome addition to Mikel Arteta’s side come next season.

The signing of Trusty will also likely see Rob Holding sweat over his long-term future. Arteta may well opt for 5 central defenders for his squad next season, but Holding will almost certainly see himself behind Benjamin White and William Saliba on the right-hand side and Gabriel Magalhães and Trusty on the left.

Meanwhile, Pablo Marí, himself already on loan at Udinese, will almost certainly be allowed to depart on a permanent transfer this coming summer.

Trusty will also be joined in the summer by his fellow teammate Matt Turner, who is also being worked on as a summer signing.