Brooke Norton-Cuffy’s performances are drawing interest from Mikel Arteta, as his loan manager tips him for a Premier League future.

Brooke Norton-Cuffy is the youngest of Arsenal’s loan batch this season, heading out to join League One side Lincoln City just days after his 18th birthday in January.

The England u18 international has quickly established himself in Lincoln, making six consecutive appearances and impressing on his two starts in the last two games.

Lincoln boss Michael Appleton is certainly impressed, tipping Norton-Cuffy for a Premier League career.

“We’ve got a right back that we’ve brought in from Arsenal who’s not bad also,” Appleton said.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of people who are going to be interested in Brooke between now and the end of the season.

“He’s a player that personally – and I don’t like singling out too many people, but I’ll be amazed if he doesn’t play in the Premier League”

Football.London report that Norton-Cuffy’s early loan performances are drawing the attention of Mikel Arteta and academy chief Per Mertesacker, who are impressed by the ease of his transition.

It’s still early days for the loan, but these aren’t unique performances. Norton-Cuffy is playing the same way he was in the u23s, he’s just doing it against senior opposition now.

If he can keep up the good form, there could be a pre-season opportunity for him.

Arsenal are in the market for a backup right-back, but they could save themselves some money if things work out for the academy youngster.

In his six appearances on loan so far, Norton-Cuffy has won 19 of his 25 contested ground duels, completed 10 of his 12 attempted dribbles, and made six tackles without being dribbled past.

With the major caveat that we only have a tiny sample size, those numbers are up there with some of the league’s best.

If you filter by players to win 10 or more duels and complete 10 or more dribbles this season, Norton-Cuffy’s percentages have him 4th and 2nd in League One for the two stats respectively. And you can’t get any better than a 100% tackle-success rate.

Once again, it’s a good start, but it’s one he needs to maintain over the next three months and beyond.