Mikel Arteta says Arsenal need to carefully manage the development of Charlie Patino and “cook him slowly”, after he burst onto the scene against Sunderland.
Patino, who only turned 18 in October, came off the bench against Sunderland on Tuesday night in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal were already 4-1 up at the time, but the midfielder marked his debut by getting on the scoresheet in the dying moments.
Before he came on the Arsenal fans were singing Patino’s name at Emirates Stadium and Arteta, while delighted about that, wants to manage expectations.
“I think that is very positive,” he said. “They heard about him and know what he can become and now we have to cook him slowly. Today was a good start, I think.
“He still has a lot of competition in front of him. He is really young. And he needs to go step by step.
“Today he was lucky, he got the opportunity and he took it really well.”
