Mikel Arteta has rewarded three Arsenal youngsters with a place in his squad for the trip to face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Reuell Walters, Lino Sousa and Ethan Nwaneri have all travelled to the Netherlands ahead of the clash tomorrow and could be in line for an opportunity in the first team given the Gunners have already guaranteed their place as group winners.
16-year-old Nwaneri became the youngest ever player to feature in the Premier League when he made his debut off the bench against Brentford last season aged just 15, and Arteta says he is excited by the potential of the midfielder.
“Something unique that he’s got that I really liked from the beginning is his ability to take the ball in tight areas, to escape a little bit like Jack Wilshere used to do,” Arteta explained.
“The personality he has, he trains with us like he trains with the under 18s, under 16s. And I love that in a
player.
“He’s got that thing between his teeth as well that he wants to show every single day how good he is and 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.
“I think it was a strong sign for him (making PL debut) that this was his place to keep developing.”
Walters and Sousa, both 18, could be in line for Arsenal debuts against PSV and Arteta says he wants to provide opportunities for the club’s youngsters despite the pressures of competing at the top.
“Three big prospects. We want to keep developing players from our system,” Arteta said.
“They deserve to be here. There are circumstances that have brought them here. Lino has a bit more experience but two of them are still really, really young.
“We want to start to give them some experience because they have the talent to hopefully be very close to us. We will try to give them the opportunity if we can in the right moment.
“It gets harder and harder (developing youngsters), so the talent has to be really good. You have
to build space in the squad as well to give that talent an opportunity.
“We should not forget that because it’s a big part of what we want to do in the future. Especially when you have it you cannot let it go. We have some good space and talent there to be developed in the right way.”
