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With qualification – and top spot in the group – already assured, Tuesday night’s meeting with PSV Eindhoven may well be an opportunity for Mikel to use some of the younger players at his disposal. Stamping Press
Defender Reuell Walters – who turns 19 on Saturday – is named in the squad, as is 18-year-left back Lino Sousa, and forward Ethan Nwaneri (17). If Walters or Sousa feature, they will make their first-team debut, while Nwaneri would become our youngest European player should he play.
“They are three big prospects,” Arteta said during his pre-match press conference. “We want to bring a lot of players from a system and they deserve to be here. The circumstances have got them into this position. They’re still really, really young but we want to get them the experience because they have the talent hopefully to be very close to us. We’ll try to give them the opportunity if we can in the right moment.
“We need to get the machine going because we want more of those (young players) and we have to produce more of those. There’s a lot of work going into the academy and that’s big credit to all of them every single day for the amount of work that they’re putting in. They do a lot, they’ve planted the seeds and now we need to bring them up.”
The manager praised the ‘enthusiasm and energy’ of his young charges, and is determined to help them fulfil their undoubted potential.
“There is something about them,” he smiled. “When you work in a meeting, or you talk to them, they have that energy, the eyes are open, there is a lot of enthusiasm. There is something fresh, something new and I have been there.
“Everyone really wants to help them, I really want to help to fulfil their dream and hopefully we can achieve that.”
Nwaneri has already represented the first team, when he became the youngest player in Premier League history as a substitute against Brentford in September 2022. Since then he has continued to excel for our youth teams, and he scored five times at the weekend in the FA Youth Cup win over Crewe.
Arteta said he’s a ‘unique’ talent, and compared him in style to his under-18s manager Jack Wilshere.
“There’s something unique that he’s got that I really liked from the beginning,” the manager said. “He has the ability to take the ball in tight areas and to escape a little bit like Jack Wilshere used to do. The personality he has, he trains with us like he trains with the under-18s or under-16s and I love that in a player.
“He’s got that bit between his teeth as well that he wants to show every single day how good he is and to impress people. When you have someone like that, you have to give him hope and as well it was a really important moment for us because we really wanted to keep him and I think it was a strange sign for him that this is his place for him to develop.”
But the manager was also keen to stress that he would not be handing out debuts cheaply, and that the priority on Tuesday night is to win the game.
“Our duty as representatives of Arsenal is to win every game and tomorrow we need a big performance against a team that is going to make it very difficult like they have shown in the past two years here,” he said.
Copyright 2023 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
There was a welcome sight at London Colney on Monday morning – the return to full training of Emile Smith Rowe.
The England international has been out of action since being subbed late on in the 5-0 win over Sheffield United back in October, but is hopeful of being involved on Tuesday night as we conclude our Champions League group away to PSV Eindhoven.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference in Eindhoven on Monday evening, Mikel Arteta praised the way Emile has approached his rehab, and is expecting the 23 year old to push on to come back stronger.
“What he has been through is part of the experience that 95 per cent of footballers have to go through,” the boss said.
“That’s difficulties, injuries, setbacks and different kind of performances too. He’s back now, and he can use that in a very powerful way, he will be a much better player.
“I think he’s on the right path, the way he’s done his rehab, I haven’t seen it like he’s done it this time.
“I think you have seen how his team-mates reacted to him being back with the team, which is a really positive thing as well. The more we can give him chances to play, the better we will be. So let’s hope that’s going to be the case.”
Copyright 2023 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
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