Christian Norgaard could become frighteningly good for Arsenal after what £25m player has now started doing

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Christian Norgaard produced another encouraging performance for Arsenal in pre-season against Villarreal on Wednesday.

Arsenal lost 3-2 to the Spanish outfit, beaten by goals from Nicolas Pepe, Etta Eyong and Arnaut Danjuma.

Despite the disappointing nature of the performance, there were some positives for Mikel Arteta to take away from the encounter, including the display of his new Danish midfielder.

Norgaard impressed for Arsenal against Tottenham, delivering a combative and defensively secure showing in Hong Kong, and he produced a similarly astute outing in N5 on Wednesday.

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Christian Norgaard could benefit enormously from Jakub Kiwior’s long throws

Nodding home Arsenal’s first goal at the back post, Norgaard enjoyed his first jubilant moment in front of the Emirates crowd.

This header capped off a dogged and determined display from the 31-year-old, who looked comfortable at the base of the Gunners’ midfield trio.

While he may be used as Martin Zubimendi’s understudy for the majority of the season, he may pose a threat which his Spanish counterpart will not.

Arsenal trialled long throw-ins against Villarreal, with Jakub Kiwior, who could be sold for £25 million this summer, consistently launching balls into the box from these situations.

As shown by his goal and his general heroics for Brentford last season from set-pieces, Norgaard could profit enormously from these long throws.

The Denmark international scored six goals across all competitions for the Bees last season, a few of which came directly from throw-ins.

With Arsenal likely to have more of the ball and dominate territory in a way Brentford didn’t, Norgaard could have ample opportunity to get his head on the end of these launches into the box.

This could make him a real threat and add a goal-scoring presence Arteta wouldn’t necessarily have thought he was getting when bringing the player to the Emirates.

Christian Norgaard will be useful for Arsenal when looking to close out games

Thomas Frank was emotional when watching Norgaard play for Arsenal last week, proud of the career trajectory his compatriot has enjoyed.

The midfielder likely didn’t think an opportunity to play for a club of the Gunners’ stature was going to present itself in his career.

Now he’s in N5, Arteta can use him as a specialist in certain game states.

When holding a slender lead in matches and under the cosh, Norgaard is the perfect man to bring on to the pitch to shore things up.

Exceptional at winning the ball back and screening the back four, his attributes will be ideal for this specific scenario.

In the past, the Gunners have used Rob Holding for this role, while Jorginho also did this, but in a different way.

This will likely be Norgaard’s role to take now that Jorginho has departed, and he can provide real value to the Gunners by doing it, alongside his set-piece threat.