Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta highlights value of ‘massive weapon’ Leandro Trossard

Mikel Arteta has hailed “magical” Leandro Trossard as a “massive weapon” for Arsenal after he fired his side to the top of the Premier League.

Trossard bundled home Bukayo Saka’s 58th minute corner at Fulham in a 1-0 win for the Gunners which ensures they will end the latest round of fixtures at the league summit.

Trossard scored just eight times in the league last term and, following Arsenal’s summer spending spree with eight new players arriving at the Emirates, the Belgium international might have feared for his place in Arteta’s side.

However, the 30-year-old has now started all of Arsenal’s last five matches, both in the league, and in Europe.

And Arteta said: “Leo has this quality to create these magic moments when the team needs it the most, and that intuition that he’s in the right place in the right moment is a huge quality for the team and a massive weapon for us.

“He’s been very, very good in recent weeks and now we have a lot of players in a really high emotional state and performance level, which is really good to see.”

Arsenal’s win at Fulham marked the first of seven fixtures in 21 days for Arteta’s men with a Champions League home clash against Atletico Madrid to come on Tuesday.

The north London team will be looking to build on a strong opening to their European campaign with successive 2-0 victories against Athletic Bilbao and Olympiacos.

The run of matches is set to test the depth of Arsenal’s new-look squad with captain Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz already absent through injury.

But Arteta continued: “We know the schedule and the load is what it is, and the games now and the context demands a bigger squad.

“All the top teams are in the same boat, and we’re going to have to manage that really well, to look after them, and especially to get the best out of them.”