Arsenal Shocked Rival Clubs With Signing Of Zlatan Ibrahimovic-Like Prospect

Arsenal signed teenage sensation Nikolaj Moller in the summer, who has now made other clubs wonder how they missed out on him.

There was not much talk about Moller, who arrived at Arsenal on transfer deadline day from Malmo. But in his debut at U23s against Manchester City, the 18-year-old proved he’s worth the buzz after scoring his first goal for the club in just six minutes of pitch action.

Now, a number of rival clubs have realized that they should have put the Swedish striker on their radar way before the summer transfer window.

“We’ve had a lot of people from other clubs say ‘bloody hell, how did we miss him?',” a senior figure within Arsenal’s academy recently told Goal. “He’s a very good player. He’s made a big impact already.”

Arsenal originally brought in Moller for a fee of around £500,000 to join Steve Bould’s Under-23 squad. However, after impressing Mikel Arteta, the youngster was immediately promoted to the first team.

Robin Asterhed, who was Moller’s youth coach at Malmo and now works for FC Copenhagen, is well aware of his former pupil’s attributes.

In a separate interview with Goal, Asterhed revealed that Moller’s first-team call-up at Arsenal was “quite big news in Sweden” before breaking down the youngster’s similarities with Ibrahimovic.

“Niko [Moller] was a year younger than the rest of the players in his age group, but his potential meant he was always one of the guys who was most ahead in terms of his development,” Asterhed recalled.

“His control of the ball, his touch, his finishing. He could handle the ball under pressure, in tough situations at quite a high tempo. Having all this, plus having his size, it really helped him stand out. If you break out all the qualities that a striker requires, Niko has them.”

“In some ways, he’s like [Nwankwo] Kanu. Maybe he doesn’t dribble as much as Kanu, but he has the ability to do that,” the coach further explained. “The Ibra [Ibrahimovic] comparisons, I think, are mostly because of his time in Italy. But there are some similarities with a young Ibra, definitely.”

“I think what sets them apart is the relentless pursuit of winning of Ibra. That decisiveness is not Nico’s strength at this point.”

So far, Moller now has three goals and an assist in his first three English Premier League appearances and is currently on the right path to becoming Arsenal’s next big star.