Arsenal youngster Brooke Norton-Cuffy joins Millwall on loan
Arsenal defender Brooke Norton-Cuffy has joined Millwall on loan for the 2023-24 season.
The 19-year-old returns to the Championship following two separate spells with Rotherham United and Coventry City last term, firstly setting up two goals in 20 appearances for the former team.
Norton-Cuffy switched allegiances to Coventry for the second half of the 2022-23 campaign, and he was a key component in the Sky Blues’ promotion-chasing side, playing 21 times in the regular season to help Coventry reach the playoffs.
Norton-Cuffy – who primarily thrives in a wing-back role – started all three of Coventry’s post-season matches, as the Sky Blues defeated Middlesbrough in the semi-finals before missing out on a Premier League place to Luton Town.
Despite his continued progression over the past year, the 2004-born defender has not been deemed ready for first-team football at the Emirates, where Ben White, Thomas Partey, Takehiro Tomiyasu and the injured Jurrien Timber are all capable of playing on the right.
👋 Welcome to #Millwall, @brookenc2…
The exciting youngster joins on loan from @Arsenal!
— Millwall FC (@MillwallFC) August 24, 2023
Instead, Norton-Cuffy will spend the 2023-24 campaign on loan with Gary Rowett’s side, where he will wear the number 17 shirt ahead of his potential debut against Stoke City on Saturday.
“We are delighted to welcome Brooke to the club,” Millwall’s Director of Football Operations and Recruitment Alex Aldridge told the official Lions website.
“He is held in very high regard by Arsenal – both as a player and as a character – and he has exciting attributes that we feel can really strengthen Gary’s squad.
“Brooke joins us after a year of playing in The Championship over two loan spells last season, as well as in important Play-Off games for Coventry, and those experiences will no doubt stand him in good stead to make a positive impact in a Millwall shirt.”
Norton-Cuffy spent time on the books at Chelsea before joining Arsenal’s youth setup in 2016, and he has played 17 times for the Gunners’ Under-21 team.
However, the teenager is still waiting to make his full debut for Arsenal, and he also enjoyed a positive loan spell with Lincoln City during the second half of the 2021-22 campaign.
Norton-Cuffy formed a part of England’s Under-19 European Championship-winning squad last year and was called up for the 2023 Under-20 World Cup, but he played just once in the tournament due to Coventry’s Championship playoff commitments.