Attacker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has represented England at youth level

Cardiff City have confirmed the loan signing of Arsenal's Jay Emmanuel-Thomas until the end of the season.

The 22-year-old striker/winger is their second signing of the January transfer window after the arrival of striker Jon Parkin from Preston North End.

Emmanuel-Thomas is Cardiff's sixth loan signing this season joining Andy Keogh, Jason Koumas, Craig Bellamy, Danny Drinkwater and Seyi Olofinjana.

The 2009 Youth Cup-winning captain has scored 10 times in nine reserve games.

"He is a big lad, he's quick and has had great grounding at Arsenal," said Cardiff boss Dave Jones.

"This is probably his next stage of development for him. he can play down the middle and wide - so we'll give him an opportunity to see what is got.

"Any player that has come from Arsenal is a good player and we're pleased to get him because we've been chasing him for a quite some weeks.

"He does have a lot of quality and he is a lad with a big future."

Emmanuel-Thomas has also played for the Arsenal first-team four times this season - a second-half substitute in their Premier League defeat to Chelsea and in their Champions League defeat in Shakhtar Donetsk.

But he has struggled to break into the first-team on a regular basis at The Emirates Stadium as Arsene Wenger's men push for the Premier League crown so has gone out on loan to Championship promotion-chasers Cardiff.

Emmanuel-Thomas was part of a Championship promotion-winning side last season, scoring once as he played 12 times for play-off winners Blackpool during a four-month loan spell.

He then scored five goals in 14 appearances in his four-month stint at Championship rivals Doncaster.

Emmanuel-Thomas, who joined Arsenal as an eight-year-old, was a feature of Steve Bould's academy side for some years, captaining the Under-18s at just 16.

He led them to an FA Youth Cup and academy league double in 2009. He signed professional terms at Arsenal in July 2008 and a new long-term contract in December 2009.

Emmanuel-Thomas joins a Cardiff squad that has full of attacking talent such as Bellamy, recent England call-up Jay Bothroyd, Michael Chopra, Peter Whittingham, Chris Burke and Keogh.

His signing comes just a day after Bluebirds boss Dave Jones confirmed he has rejected an approach from an unnamed club for 15-goal top-scorer Bothroyd, who is out of contract in the summer.

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