Arsene Wenger has paid tribute to former Arsenal academy coach Dermot Drummy, who has passed away aged 56.

Drummy spent more than 10 years at the club, before leaving to join Chelsea in 2009 and then later taking over as Crawley manager.

“It is very sad news and I would like to express my condolences to his family and of course everybody around him,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.

“He was a very competent man, very respected here and it is really difficult to understand what happened. We are very sad here today and would like to thank him for all the great work he has done here.

“He was a good character and a sensitive and sensible man. He was always willing to learn, always wanting to improve the quality of his coaching.

“When he left us it was very sad news at the time, he had done an excellent job here, and I would say today as well that many, many, many young players that he has coached are sad because he has contributed a lot and that is why the whole football world and all of us at Arsenal are very sad.”