Arsenal academy chief Per Mertesacker believes that the experience of Under-23 head coach Freddie Ljungberg at the highest level will help fire the Gunners youngsters to the next level.
The Hale End academy has produced arguably its most talented collection of young talent in a decade, with Xavier Amaechi, Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka and Joe Willock starring at U23 level.
Meanwhile Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe were snapped up by top Bundesliga sides, proof of the exceptional nature of talent in the Arsenal academy, enough that several other top clubs from Germany and elsewhere are now mainstays at U23 matches.
Ljungberg himself has settled swiftly into his role as U23 head coach, which he began at the start of this season, and is widely admired in the Arsenal hierarchy even if side look unlikely to retain the Premier League 2 title they won last season.
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The likes of Saka, Amaechi and Willock in particular have flourished under the tutelage of the Invincible, who like that young trio had an enviable reputation for providing goals from midfield.
"[Ljungberg can give the players a lot], since he himself has experienced the top level," Mertesacker told the club website of his former side Werder Bremen.
"He knows how to behave on and off the field. He can report on his professional time, but also demand a lot.
"But he himself can still learn a lot, because he is still a very young coach. We give him the chance to try and work on his quality.
"This applies to him as well as to all the other coaches who were not professionals and found a way to Arsenal."
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Mertesacker's decision to send Smith Rowe and Nelson, arguably the two brightest of Arsenal's young talents, to Germany reflects a growing trend for bright English prospects to head overseas.
It is an avenue Arsenal are prepared to explore further, Nketiah would have joined Augsburg had it not been for the intervention of Gunners head coach Unai Emery, and Mertesacker believes the greater opportunities to play against senior opponents in Germany is particularly appealing for his charges.
"Although you have good opponents with us, games with men's teams do not exist," he said. "In Germany you are challenged in the regional league or even better in the third division.
"Therefore, the step from our U23 into the first team is even bigger, because the next higher level is the Premier League. For us loans from Arsenal are very attractive, for example to the Bundesliga. "
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