Per Mertesacker reveals who he thinks is Arsenal's best teenage talent | OneFootball

Arsenal academy manager Per Mertesacker has hailed teenage sensation Bukayo Sako but has warned against giving the midfielder too much too soon.

Sako has played four times for the first team this season with the 17-year-old becoming the first Arsenal player in over a decade to make his senior debut in the same year as he signed a professional contract.

Not since Jack Wilshere have the club been blessed with such a talent but Mertesacker, who oversees the youngsters at the Emirates, is wary of piling too much pressure on a player so young.

“Interesting talent but as well very young, Bukayo Saka is 17-years-old for example and we don’t want to push him too hard to an extent where he’s misused in a way,” Mertesacker told Goal.

“He has to cope with the tempo, he’s still a first year scholar so he’s got a lot of education going on so we don’t want him to think that it’s just good enough to train with the first team.

“The manager likes him, but he’s got a lot of steps to do before he can call himself a real professional in a first-team environment.”