Arsene Wenger identifies the Arsenal young guns set to follow in Alex Iwobi's footsteps

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James Benge4 April 2016

Arsene Wenger is confident that he has a crop of youngsters capable of following in Alex Iwobi’s footsteps in the coming months after the 19-year-old's emergence in the Arsenal first team.

Over nearly 20 years at Arsenal Wenger has made a principle of giving young players opportunities, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Cole and Jack Wilshere all being thrown into the first team at an early age and repaying their manager’s faith.

Iwobi is the latest young gun to emerge under Wenger and has grabbed his opportunity with both hands, impressing at the Nou Camp in defeat to Barcelona before scoring on each of his first two Premier League starts against Everton and Watford.

He was joined in the starting lineup for Saturday’s win over the Hornets by Hector Bellerin and Francis Coquelin, both of whom spent much of their formative years in the Arsenal youth setup.

And Wenger is convinced there is plenty more where that came from, identifying another core of youngsters he expects to challenge for first team places in the years to come.

“We have many players with big quality,” he told the Arsenal Weekly podcast. “The guys that are with me now like Chris Willock who is very impressive, Jeff Reine-Adelaide is with us on a daily basis, Reiss Nelson is with us also.

“We have a few players, and behind the team is a core of six or seven players, I won’t name them all now, but are a guarantee for the future of Arsenal Football Club.”

Wenger has not hidden in his pride in the impressive feats of Iwobi over recent weeks, hailing his form as proof that the “values” of Arsenal reap benefits in the short-term.

Having seen his title contenders of 2008/09, a young side full of high-quality players including Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, depart for sides they felt were more capable of competing for trophies Wenger hopes a side thoroughly grounded in Arsenal’s culture can offer a bright future for Arsenal.

“Alex Iwobi came here at the age of eight or nine years old and that means the club has a meaning to the [young players],” he added. “If he makes it, we will have players that really carry the values of our club through the generations.

“That for me is vital. Winning is vital as well, but we want to combine both. We want to win and be proud of the values that represent our club.”

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