Mikel Arteta has talked up the progress of former Leeds United striker Eddie Nketiah.
The Arsenal youngster was on loan at Elland Road for the first half of the season, becoming a firm favourite with Whites fans - so they will be delighted to hear the positive news over his progress.
Yet he struggled to supplant Patrick Bamford in Marcelo Bielsa's starting line-up, with a lack of starts meaning he was recalled in January following interest from Leeds' Championship rivals.
On his return to the Gunners, the 21-year-old impressed enough in training to convince manager Arteta that his development would be best served by staying at the Emirates.
He has netted three times for Arsenal since then and was handed a surprise start against Manchester City in the Premier League's return on Wednesday evening.
Speaking to the Metro, Arteta backed the former Leeds loanee to keep up the good work.
"I want him to keep doing what he’s doing," Arteta said.
"The way he played last night against those players, in those difficult conditions, for me is extraordinary at his age.
"He has an immense personality to play, confidence, he’s powerful and is developing in every area I think.
"I have a lot of faith in him."
The Arsenal boss explained that he was keen to get the right environment for his young players - perhaps indicating that deals like Nketiah's loan to Leeds may become a thing of the past as he tries to control youngsters' development.
He said: "The trick here is to get them with the right environment around them - not to put too much pressure on them.
"We have a really young squad, a very inexperienced squad, and when you put that in certain parts of the pitch very close together, you can see that there are some deficits and the decision-making is not always the right thing to do.
"We are in a position that we have to accept that some things at the moment, in there, probably more than we would like, are going to be like that.
"That’s the circumstances that we have but at the same time it’s great because it’s a great value for them to have these experiences and see themselves playing against that type of opposition."
