The 17 year-old Jeff Reine-Adelaide may have only arrived at Arsenal last summer, but he made an immediate impact when providing an assist against Wolfsburg in the Emirates Cup. Many observers thought that he was already good enough to join the first team squad, but Jeff himself knew that e sill had to fight for his place. “I was happy – very happy actually,” he said. “The fans seemed to be happy too. In fact, everyone was happy for me, including the coach and that is important. Of course it was a strange feeling, the media talks only about superstars.
“I was very surprised but of course happy. My parents told me I have not done anything yet – they told me to keep my feet on the ground and that I should keep working hard.
“I think I need to improve every single day when I train, show that I’m focused and concentrating and show that I want to succeed. I need to show I will never give up, then, if one day I get my chance, it is my duty to show the coach to put his trust in me. Then I will fight to regularly be in the first team.”
Since then Jeff has been playing with the Under 21s, and recently scored twice as Arsenal beat Blackburn 3-2, so he is progressing nicely It is great to see such dedication in our youngsters and hopefully next season Wenger will be sending him out on loan to prepare him for the spotlight of the Premier League.
This is one youngster I really believe will be a top Arsenal player in the future. Keep it up Jeff!