Leandro Trossard only made a cameo appearance in Arsenal’s win over Manchester United, but his debut has been hailed as an important moment in the Gunners’ season.
Trossard came off the substitutes’ bench to play his first minutes for his new team on Sunday evening. He entered the field in the 82nd minute for Gabriel Martinelli and was involved in Eddie Nketiah’s match-winning goal in the final minute.
The Belgium international joined Arsenal in a £27million transfer from Brighton on Friday after falling out with Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi. His arrival helped soften the blow for Arsenal after they missed out on top target Mykhaylo Mudryk, who was snapped up by Chelsea for £87m.
Trossard completed just four passes and two dribbles during his time on the pitch, yet still got some glowing praise from former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. “I think Trossard is a really good player, better than at the moment what people think he is,” he said on Sky Sports.
“He showed it at Brighton and he showed it today for a couple of minutes. He’s different to what they’ve got. He plays between the lines, he can score goals, play in different positions up front.”
Trossard is the first signing of the January transfer window for Arsenal, who moved fast to beat rivals Tottenham to the deal, but he won’t be the last. Jakub Kiwior was inside the Emirates on Sunday, with the Poland international set to join Arsenal in a £21m deal from Spezia in the coming days.
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Mikel Arteta emphasised how important new additions will be to sustaining Arsenal’s Premier League title push this season. The Gunners are five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, and have a game in hand, but Arteta is concerned about the depth of his squad.
“Just in terms of numbers, we had 15 or 16 outfield players and it wasn’t enough,” he told Sky Sports. “They are going to help us. You saw [that] Trossard is composed and confident already.”
Jamie Redknapp was very impressed with the way that Arsenal snapped up Trossard after being outbid for Mudryk. “It would have been panic stations at Arsenal, when they didn’t get Mudryk in the transfer window they might have thought this was a big miss for us,” he said.
“But they’ve already shown in a 15-minute cameo that Trossard is going to be a great signing for them.
“Great qualities, he’s comfortable on the ball, goes forward with it, he’s a typical Arsenal player if you like. He’s a good footballer that can score goals and make goals. He’s a good signing and for [an initial] £22m that’s a real bargain from their point of view.”
