Theo Walcott sends Ethan Nwaneri message to Mikel Arteta amid Arsenal injury problems for North London derby

Theo Walcott has been discussing Mikel Arteta’s selection headache for Sunday’s North London derby. Arteta, who has penned a new contract with the club, will be without two starting midfielders for the short trip to Spurs, with Martin Odegaard likely sidelined and Declan Rice suspended.

Rice picked up two yellow cards and a red last time out, while Odegaard picked up a nasty-looking ankle injury during international duty with Norway. That will likely keep him out for at least a couple of weeks, but Arteta will provide a further update in his pre-match press conference.

One of Jorginho and Thomas Partey are the most likely candidates to come into the midfield in place of Rice, while Leandro Trossard likely has the upper-hand when it comes to replacing Odegaard.

Another player who has been mentioned is 17-year-old talent Ethan Nwaneri, who has impressed Arteta over the course of pre-season. But former Arsenal favourite Walcott believes it’s simply too big a game for Arteta to take such a risk.

The former Gunners winger told The Arsenal Way: “I would probably expect [Kai] Havertz to drop back into that role and Gabriel Jesus to start up front, that’s probably what I would see. I wouldn’t expect Nwaneri to start in that position. I think he’s one of those that likes to come inside, that’s fine, but to start in a derby when you’ve got a lot of players out… I’m not quite sure yet if he’s ready for that. But of course he can make an impact because when I came through, I was used as a bit of an impact player at first just to find my feet and it worked.”

Walcott, who joined Arsenal as a youngster from Southampton, said of Nwaneri’s current situation: “When you have that as a player, eventually, yes, you do need to take the next step when the manager gives you an opportunity and actually go for it, but I just don’t think this is the right timing right now.

“But he had a great pre-season, great kid, good athlete, but it’s one of those where we just need to take a step back, which we won’t because I know that from being on the other side of it, and just let this guy develop. He’s got a good thing going for him: he’s got a young manager, loads of new ideas that you can relate to the modern player and that’s going to do him well.”