Bukayo Saka responds as Arsenal exit announced and 'new adventure' confirmed

Barry Solan has belatedly announced that he left his Arsenal post this summer at the end of their pre-season.

Solan, 44, had been the club's lead first-team strength and conditioning coach before his departure. He arrived in north London in the summer of 2015, making him one of the club's longest-serving staff members.

Arsene Wenger and the club's long-time head of performance, Shad Forsythe, afforded Solan, a performance specialist for the Poland national team at Euro 2012, an opportunity. The Irishman had also been working in Gaelic football and coaching boxer Katie Taylor, who won Olympic gold at London 2012 and is now the undisputed and lineal world lightweight champion.

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Announcing the news on Instagram, Solan shared a team photo involving dozens of players and staff with the caption "This gang," punctuated with a red heart emoji. The caption continued: "People make a place, and Arsenal are lucky to have a lot of great ones!"

"Massive thanks to Shad [Forsythe] and Arsene [Wenger] initially for the opportunity and to Unai [Emery], Freddie [Ljungberg] and more recently Mikel [Arteta] and his team. Incredibly lucky to have worked and learned with some of the best performance staff, coaches and players around.

"We won, we lost, and we experienced every other emotion in between together for nearly a decade. Great times, and Arsenal is a great place.

"Very sad to depart after pre-season, but a new adventure awaits. Looking forward to seeing the lads hit new speeds this year and beyond," before Solan signed off with a folded hands emoji and the 'Come on you Gunners' hashtag.

Bukayo Saka commented Solan's initials, 'BS', on the post, followed by a red heart. A host of former Arsenal players Alex Iwobi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Calum Chambers, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Rob Holding also sent their best wishes.