It is always a sad moment when a local youngster realises that he cannot make it at the club he loves but, for Jay Simpson, his departure from Arsenal, which was confirmed last night, will bring with it a sense of relief and determination to kick-start his career.

Regarded as a promising player as a schoolboy, Simpson broke into the now-disbanded Arsenal under-17 side aged just 13 and went on to become a key member of the under-18s before signing scholarship forms in the summer preceding the final season at Highbury.

That season, however, he scored just twice from 22 Academy League starts but stepped up to the Reserves with aplomb before taking his game to another level in the 2006/07 season, during which he was one of the stand-out players in Arsenal’s run to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup, scoring five goals in six matches, which included the first ever hat-trick scored at Emirates Stadium in the Quarter-Final victory over Cardiff. His performances saw him noted by Thierry Henry, who left the club that summer but predicted a bright future for Simpson at the top level.

First-team football was by now becoming a craving more than a desire for Simpson and, after participating in the Champions Youth Cup, he spent the majority of the 2007/08 season with Millwall, where his tireless performances earned him rave reviews from the Lions’ faithful, so much so that he was named the League One Fans’ Player of the Year for that season.

2008/09 was the season in which Jay finally got his Arsenal break. He outshone fellow striker Nicklas Bendtner by scoring two goals in the pre-season friendly victory over Barnet before making his long-awaited first-team debut as a substitute in the 6-0 demolition of Sheffield United in the Carling Cup third round tie at Emirates. Injuries meant that he was handed a start in the next round at home to Wigan and Jay certainly didn’t disappoint, hitting a brace against the Latics on his full debut. He also made a sub appearance in the Quarter-Final defeat to Burnley before spending the second-half of the season fighting a losing battle against relegation to the Championship with West Bromwich Albion.

The following pre-season did not work out as had been expected for Jay and he was subsequently farmed out on loan again, this time to QPR in the Championship, where he impressed before returning to Arsenal again this summer to hear that he would be allowed to leave the club for the right price. Despite scoring again against Barnet in pre-season, there appeared to be little Simpson could do in order to perpetuate his dream of making it with Arsenal and he has now been presented with an opportunity to carve out a decent career at Hull City, who he joined yesterday.

There will be several endearing memories of Simpson, such as his refusal to give up and stop running even in the most trying of circumstances and also his late emergence from the dressing room after half-time in one Reserve match against Chelsea which caused him to receive a rather public rollicking from coach Neil Banfield. Bendtner’s presence as a similarly-aged striker, however, made it extremely difficult for Simpson to get a look in and there will be many who will say that Simpson didn’t receive the opportunities his potential and hard work deserved.

Now, however, it is time for a new chapter in the career of Jay Simpson. One thing is for certain, though, you can guarantee that he will always be an Arsenal man at heart.