‘Already shown his quality’ – Young Arsenal international praised by coach

Marcelo Flores could well be the next youngster to break through into the Arsenal first-team, with the central midfielder coming in for special praise from Under-23 coach Kevin Betsy.

The Gunners have been blessed by their academy graduates in recent seasons, with Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Hector Bellerin and Eddie Nketiah all working their way up the ranks into the first-team in recent years. Charlie Patino appears to be the next one who could well earn a regular starting role in the near future after making his debut this term, and the club could well have earmarked the next one from their ranks.

Flores made his senior debut for Mexico against Chile in a friendly in December, but could still be persuaded to switch allegiance if one of Canada or England can persuade him before he makes his competitive debut.

Betsy is thoroughly impressed with the young 18 year-old who is already featuring for the Arsenal Under-23 side.

The Arsenal U-23 coach said: “He has already shown his quality. We believe in him as a young footballer and fantastic character. He wants to learn and improve everyday and you are seeing his positive performances.”

Betsy added on Arsenal talent Flores: “His work rate out of possession is excellent. He’s had to work very hard with that. He’s a very creative player, a natural attacking player and what you find with those types of players is they like it when they have the ball.”

Flores is one the younger players to feature regularly in the U23s, and has been earmarked for the first-team for some time, as has Patino, but how long we will have to wait before the Mexican gets his chance is yet to be seen.

Patrick