Reiss Nelson has revealed what a big impact Thierry Henry had on him as a young attacking player in a very short amount of time.

Nelson has revealed that Henry taught him a lot while he was coaching the youth players at London Colney.

“Thierry is an Arsenal legend and I had an opportunity to spend time with him when he was a coach at the academy,” Nelson told Goal.

“I think he helped me a lot over his short time as Arsenal coach and he showed me little things that I took on board and have now started to show in my game.

“He was a great coach for me but he’s also a great guy. He helped the younger players a lot and he said that the main things at Arsenal are respect and hard work. He always underlined these two things.

“He said if you could take that in at a young age, the talent will do its work; that if you work hard and respect everyone around you, you can push on to become a top player.”

Henry was briefly a coach at Arsenal until the club decided that his work as a pundit for Sky Sports was a conflict of interests. He chose to keep presenting, gave up his role with the Gunners and instead became the Belgium national team’s assistant manager alongside Roberto Martinez.

Henry’s job while at Arsenal was to help the young, attacking players, which Nelson obviously falls under, so it stands to reason that the 17-year-old learned from the legend.

Nelson has scored six goals in five Premier League 2 clashes for the reserves so far this season and has made three appearances (two starts) for the senior team after impressing for them in pre-season.

The England u17 international is exciting to watch and a great prospect for the future so you can understand why Henry would go out of his way to give him advice.

Hopefully, the youngster remembers it. Respect and hard work are crucial, no matter how talented you are.