Arsenal fans were impressed with the performance of youngster Miguel Azeez, after Mikel Arteta’s side picked up a pre-season victory this afternoon.
The Gunners defeated Watford 4-1 at their London Colney training ground, as preparations ramp up for the upcoming 2021/22 Premier League season, which is just around the corner.
Eddie Nketiah, Alexandre Lacazette, Kieran Tierney and Azeez were the goalscorers in this behind closed doors encounter at the training ground.
The latter of the four came on at half-time and has given Arteta a headache ahead of the season, with many Gunners fans calling for the 18-year-old to be included in the first-team set-up after his wonder goal which was scored in the 86th minute following a well-worked corner.
Our Arsenal correspondent Kaya Kaynak gave the young midfielder a 7/10 when it came to his player ratings from the contest.
‘Miguel Azeez: Showed the confidence to take on a strike from the edge of the box with his weaker foot and had the ability to back it up. An excellent finish to cap a really impressive first performance of pre-season. 7.’
And our football.london man wasn’t the only one impressed with the youngster – here’s how the Arsenal fans reacted to his performance on Twitter.
(Image: Arsenal fans)
afc_ferry tweeted: ‘Azeez very decent today. Didn’t look out of place at all.
‘Recycled it well, positioned well to recieve, covered the fullback pushing forward and made some good passes forward.
‘Brilliant goal too, good technique on his weak foot.’
@BrianRocks1964 gave his six-word verdict: ‘Azeez- Be afraid, be very afraid!’.
@AFCWorldwide_ reckons: ‘Azeez > Elneny
‘Every day, all day.’
@AFC_SamCrane thinks: ‘Azeez might be better than Bissouma you know.’
@mitchmakaveli put: ‘Azeez should definitely be promoted to the first team now man. He is so calm and techy, Lokonga is a potential starter for us, this guy is something else. We need to replace Xhaka.’
Arsenal manager Arteta has previously reiterated the importance of promoting academy graduates into the first team set-up, meaning the prospect of seeing the 18-year-old next season in the squad is a possibility.
“I have a lot of faith in the young talent we have at the football club, but we need the right stability and foundations around them to make sure they develop in the right way, at the right moment, with the right amount of talent behind them,” the Spaniard explained back in June 2020.
“But to do that, it’s a process and if you want to speed up that process, you risk burning them and burning all the process – and you cannot do that.
“We have some young players who are playing more football than they probably should be doing, but they’re showing great maturity and lot of personality to play in difficult moments which is great for their experience.
“But as well we need the other players to support them the right way, and that’s what we are trying to achieve.
“To find this balance to be very competitive but as well very excited about the future ahead of us.”