We don’t often pay attention to what Michael Owen has to say but as he’s said something nice about one of our youngsters, I’m going to allow it.

Bukayo Saka made his home Arsenal debut on Thursday night as the team took on Qarabag in the Europa League and he certainly left an impression.

Although his finishing needs a little work, the 17-year-old, who admitted his family still made him go to bed early, was one of few standouts from what was an awful game.

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Speaking to BT Sport, Owen said, “He looked really nervous at the start of the game, myself and Martin [Keown] were both talking about it.

“But he certainly grew into the game. Just him having the courage to run at players was really refreshing to see.

“Some of the skill… I watched Ronaldo doing this the other day for Juventus.

“It’s absolutely brilliant and so unlucky that it wasn’t given a goal.

“He’s just different class and by the end of the game, his confidence was oozing.

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Prior to his start for the Arsenal senior team, Saka had five goals and seven assists from 15 games at all levels this season. He made his debut for Arsenal when he played the last 22 minutes against Vorskla Poltava at the end of November.

That appearance also made him the youngest Nigerian to play for Arsenal, aged as he was at just 17 years, two months and 24 days.