Maidstone United defender Taylor Foran speaks about his years learning the game as a young player at Arsenal and taking advice from Mikel Arteta and Steve Bould

Maidstone United defender Taylor Foran could hardly have had a better football education after growing up at Arsenal.

Foran spent 13 years with the Gunners and, by the end of his time with the north London giants, he was training daily with Mikel Arteta’s first-team squad.

Released in the summer of 2024, centre-back Foran joined Bromley - then new to the Football League - and now finds himself part of Maidstone’s National League South promotion push.

The 22-year-old excelled on loan at the Gallagher Stadium, with United conceding just once in his six appearances, and that led to a permanent move, signing an 18-month deal.

His upbringing at Arsenal made him the player he is today and that can only benefit the Stones.

“The attention to detail at Arsenal and the sorts of things they go into, looking back, it’s just crazy,” said Foran, who captained the under-18s and made 13 appearances for the Premier League 2 side.

“Being around the first team pretty much every day, it was that environment you want to be in.

“We trained every day with them, so we would always get a taster to see what it was like.

“We always aspired to be there with them and we got that pretty much every day, so we’d go into games feeling strong, confident and ready to beat teams.”

For a young pro making his way, it was an incredible experience going up against world-class Premier League players on the training ground.

It helped his game no end and he also benefited from advice from Gunners boss Arteta and legendary centre-back Steve Bould, who also coached at the Emirates Stadium.

Foran, who got on well with first-team stars Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus, said: “You get used to it but it’s still extremely hard.

“Similar players have the same