Arsenal

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hails Chuba Akpom

By Subhankar Mondal, Reporter | 08 December 2012

Arsene Wenger believes that 17-year-old striker Chuba Akpom has "quality" and is confident that he will succeed with Arsenal in the future.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has backed teenage striker Chuba Akpom to establish himself as a first-team player in the future.

The 17-year-old signed a professional contract with the London club in October and was part of the Gunners' squad for their Champions League game against Olympiacos in Greece on Tuesday.

"He has personality [and] he has quality," Wenger told Arsenal's official website. "I wanted him to be with the first team, taste what it is [to be involved] in a Champions League game, and hopefully he will join us very quickly. It could happen very soon.

"He's more a guy who likes to participate in the build up, a guy who is brave, a guy who makes good runs and is not a typical goal chaser.

"Where he must improve is to finish things off. But he creates for others, he creates for himself, and just needs to be a bit calmer for the finishing. That's something he will get easily."

Akpom has scored three goals for the England Under-19 side this season and is also part of the Arsenal Under-21 team.