Riess Nelson provided Arsenal fans with a glimpse of his talent by making his professional debut for Arsenal on Thursday night, introduced as a substitute for the disappointing Theo Walcott.

Nelson was given his chance by Wenger after his impressive performances in the U23 where he bagged the player of the month award for August, capped by scoring his 6th goal of the season away to Manchester United.

Clearly, the player is not afraid of the big stage, Nelson was brought on in the 83rd minute to a warm reception and immediately provided contrast to Walcott’s style of play by immediately making himself available for passes in tight areas.

His quick feet is matched by his quick passing tempo and brought back the old style Tika-Taka 1-2 passes which Wenger has tried to instil in the Arsenal style of play with many of the youth team graduates.

Nelson started out wide-right but was comfortable taking the ball inside and linked up the play well with his teammates. One glaring mistake was an attempt at a long-range ball from just inside his own half to Sanchez which was snuffed out by the Cologne defence and resulted in a quick Counterattack.

However, that was easily forgotten when he linked up beautifully with Wilshire and Sanchez at the edge of the box only for Sanchez to chip wide from an acute angle.

The signs are there, and as a debutant at 17 there seems to be enough to suggest that Nelson has the temperament to succeed and the hunger, skill and determination to push for a starting place soon. And despite all the turmoil off the pitch and within the first team at Arsenal fans live in hope that they have a potential wonderkid in their ranks.