With all eyes trained on Alex Iwobi, Arsene Wenger has named three from six players he believes will follow in the young Nigerian’s footsteps.

Speaking on the Arsenal podcast, the boss was extolling the virtues of the youngsters coming through the ranks. They are no doubt a  welcome sight to him after the Academy basically wrote off an entire generation.

Once again, it seems like the youth set-up is starting to bear fruit.

“We have many players with big quality,” Wenger said.

“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.”

Iwobi has already made 15 appearances for the club this season and with two goals in his first two Premier League starts, and has stolen some of the headlines from Manchester United’s young guns who have dominated the column inches this season.

Representing his country for the first time in a competitive match during the most recent international break, his sudden explosion onto the scene set England scrambling to get him to declare for them, but his mind was already made up.

Arsene Wenger said that it was England’s loss and it’s hard to disagree.

The good news for Roy Hodgson, however, is that both Willock and Nelson are English.

Watch all three in action on page 2