Making the breakthrough into the first-team at Arsenal isn’t an easy task and, although he has been rather on the fringes of proceedings in recent years, Kieran Gibbs leaves having made 230 senior appearances for the club, which is rather a lot more than most other academy products have mustered.

Gibbs’ susceptibility to injuries and his lack of positional sense saw his chances limited over the past few campaigns but he always seemed committed to the cause.

After producing an excellent performance for Wimbledon against Arsenal in a behind closed doors fixture in 2004 and with the South London club’s academy disbanding, Gibbs was signed by Arsenal, along with James Dunne and Abu Ogogo.

While Dunne and Ogogo have carved out respectable careers in the lower tiers of English football, Gibbs has been involved at a rather higher level and has been capped by England on ten occasions.

After progressing to scholarship terms with Arsenal Gibbs produced one of the most memorable moments in the first season at Emirates Stadium as he scored a fine goal against Manchester United in the FA Youth Cup.

He soon caught the eye of Arsene Wenger and underwent the transformation from flying left winger to an attacking left-back, although even today the suspicion remains that he is more suited to his original position.

Wenger threw Gibbs into action in the Emirates Cup in 2007 and the youngster was incredibly assured. He clattered into Inter Milan’s Marco Materazzi and won the affection of the crowd, while Wenger added to the hype surrounding him after the game by saying that Gibbs reminded him of Ryan Giggs.

Gibbs remained on the fringes of the first-team and continued to excel at youth level but, after a rather frustrating loan spell with Norwich City in the previous season,

it was towards the end of the 2008/09 campaign that he became increasingly involved with the first-team.

Gibbs found himself starting against Manchester United in a Champions League semi-final but a costly slip enabled the visitors to score.

Despite that major setback Gibbs was officially promoted to the first-team in the summer of 2009.

However, with Gael Clichy ahead of him in the pecking order Gibbs had to be patient for his chance.

When Clichy left in 2011 Gibbs had an opportunity to establish himself but despite producing some encouraging moments he was unable to ever truly make the left-back spot his own, especially after Nacho Monreal’s arrival in 2013.

Still, there were some notable highlights – his intervention against West Bromwich Albion (who he has now joined) in 2012, his clearance in the 2014 FA Cup final against Hull City and his strike against Tottenham Hotspur a year later.

In truth Gibbs has needed to leave Arsenal for several years in order to play regularly and now that time has finally come as he has secured a move to West Brom.

He had his flaws and was ultimately unable to achieve his aim of truly becoming a key player for Arsenal but Gibbs is certainly one of the club’s most successful recent graduates.