Wenger lauds Chuba Akpom

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists teenage striker Chuba Akpom could play an important role in the Gunners’ first team in the 2015/16 season. Akpom scored a hat-trick as Arsenal reached the final of the invitational Asia Trophy with a 4-0 win over a Singapore Select XI at the Singapore National Stadium on Wednesday. Wenger, famed for having a sharp eye for precocious talent, believes Akpom, who has Nigerian ancestry, can be an important member of the Arsenal first team this season. “That's up to him (on his role for the new season). How much (will he play)? I don't know, but I just believe that it's an encouragement to do well and to work even harder. “He is a young player and it can lift his confidence. The confidence in the dressing room that you sense from the other players is important as well and that can help him. “Let's not forget it's a friendly. He's a good talent, but he has to work and show that in [the big] games. “I sent him out on loan last year because I thought he needed that. This pre-season, during the season I plan to keep him with us,” Wenger said during his post-match press conference.