‘I saw it’: Mikel Arteta on what some Arsenal fans did late on v Sunderland

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has welcomed the Gunners fanbase’s reaction to Charlie Patino scoring on his debut.

Many Arsenal supporters have long been calling for Arteta to give the 18-year-old senior game time.

Patino has been sensational for Arsenal at age level and looks like he has a bright future ahead of him.

His potential from an early age was so high that the Gunners paid Luton £10,000 to sign him in 2015, when he was 11 years old.

Patino has regularly played well above his age group, debuting for Arsenal’s Under-18s when he was just 14.

Last season, the playmaker earned promotion to the Under-23s and made four appearances.

This term, Patino has 15 appearances to his name in the Premier League 2, EFL Trophy and FA Youth Cup.

And in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Sunderland, he marked his debut off the bench with the game’s fifth goal.

In injury time, Patino connected with Nicolas Pepe’s low ball across the box and turned it home from eight yards out.

Arsenal fans were chanting his name when he took to the pitch and became even louder when he scored.

“I see that! I saw it around the club,” Arteta told BBC Sport after the game.

“They heard about him and know what he can become – and now we have to cook him slowly.

“Today was a good start. He still has a lot of competition in front of him.

“He is really young. And he needs to go step by step.

“Today he was lucky, he got the opportunity and he took it really well.”