Arsenal teenager Reuell Walters may be on the verge of making his senior debut for the club.
Reuell Walters could feature for Arsenal for the first time when the Gunners take on PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
The north London club are set to meet the Dutch outfit in a Champions League encounter. The match marks the final fixture of the group stage of the competition. Arsenal have already qualified for the knockout rounds of the tournament as group winners, meaning they have nothing really riding on this game.
As such, this fixture is the perfect opportunity for Mikel Arteta to heavily rotate his regular starting XI. The major benefit of doing so is that some of the club’s key players will be able to take a much-needed rest, protecting their fitness for more important matches to come.
Certain fringe players will be expecting a runout in this match. The likes of Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho, Aaron Ramsdale, Reiss Nelson, and Mohamed Elneny, amongst others, will be expecting to get minutes against PSV Eindhoven.
As well as these first team players, several of the club’s Hale End academy starlets will be eyeing up some level of involvement in the continental clash.
The case for Reuell Walters being handed his Arsenal debut against PSV
According to The Standard, Walters is pushing hard to make his Arsenal bow in this match. The 18-year-old defender has frequently impressed in the academy setup and has been named on the bench by Arteta on a number of occasions, suggesting that the Spanish coach is well aware of the youngster’s talent and potential.
Arsenal are also currently trying to convince Walters to sign a new contract with the club. Handing him his debut this week could go a long way towards tempting him to commit his future at the Emirates Stadium.
Walters is certainly a potential future star. Oleksandr Zinchenko has publicly lauded the young defender’s talent before, telling of how he once overpowered Gabriel Jesus in training. A former coach also described him as having “the full package,” as quoted by The Athletic.
Another, more pragmatic reason, for handing Walters a start against PSV is that Arteta is short on options at the back. The manager is clearly reluctant to use Cedric Soares, but injuries to Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu have diminished his defensive choices. Rather than risk another regular starter succumbing to injury in a dead rubber of a match, Walters should be given the nod.
In the meantime, sourcing fresh defensive reinforcements must be a priority for Arsenal in the upcoming January transfer window.
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