ARSENAL have tasked a former fan favourite with finding the next Bukayo Saka.Ex-Gunners captain Per Mertesacker hopes to bring another golden ticket through the club’s youth ranks.Ex-Arsenal centre back Per Mertesacker is currently the manager of Arsenal AcademyCredit: GettyThe club are hoping to find the next Bukayo SakaCredit: GettyArsenal first-team stars Saka, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly have all risen to fame through the Gunners Academy.Mertesacker took over his current role as manager of the Arsenal youth setup in July 2018. And the towering German believes the “most important age group” in the Academy is the under-9s.He claims that by the age of 8, talented youngsters could have “five or six offers from clubs in London.”READ MORE ON FOOTBALLMertesacker told The Telegraph: “That is where the resources go and also where I need to present to parents. “I would not call it an under-eight transfer market but it is probably close to that.”Mertesacker adds that “football talent” initially gets you into the building on Wadham Road. But he warned: “It’s the character that sets the ceiling. Kicking the ball around is not enough.Most read in FootballFOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS”We are big on respect and humility – you are here to respect yourself and make yourself better.”You have to respect others and the environment as well.”Bukayo Saka left looking ‘so helpless’ in bizarre moment Conor McGregor tries UFC moves on Arsenal star Mertesacker, who played 104 times for Germany, admits scouting young talent has come a long way from his own playing days.He claims all he could do as an eight-year-old was “run in a straight line.”But despite being tasked with creating the Premier League stars of the future, Mertesacker doesn’t rush his recruits.The 40-year-old eases in youngsters to build an “inclusive environment.”Mertesacker continued: “Obviously it is early, and at that age, you make it fun. “You make it playtime, you make it musical. It’s a foundation phase, where they need to express themselves as much as possible.”Mikel Arteta has given first-team opportunities to a host of academy players in this year’s Carabao CupCredit: AlamyLiverpool impressed at Arsenal, but it was a match Jurgen Klopp probably would’ve wonBy Jordan DaviesON the face of it, Liverpool continue to go from strength to strength with Arne Slot’s tenure still in its infancy.Away at Arsenal as title contenders — with a formidable record at the Emirates having won four of their last six there — the Reds fought back, not once, but twice to earn an impressive point to remain four clear of the Gunners.Nine games in, Liverpool have seven wins, 22 points collected and sit in second in what is one of the club’s best ever starts to a Prem campaign.Nothing to sniff at there, and that is without mentioning three straight wins in the Champions League and a 5-1 Carabao Cup third-round thumping of fellow top-flight side West Ham.So to even attempt to pick flaws in Slot’s start with a run that solid would come across needlessly pedantic, deliberately nit-picky.But, and there is a but, given the standards Liverpool have set in these early months, it needs to be said: this draw in North London was a massive missed opportunity.And to go one step further, maybe this is a game Jurgen Klopp would have found a way to win?It has been a long time since Arsenal have gone into a game feeling so vulnerable defensively with world-class centre-back William Saliba missing through suspension.Full-back Riccardo Calafiori was also out injured, usual right-back Ben White began the game at centre-half and midfielder Thomas Partey started on the far right side of the defence.And then, in a chaotic second half, both Jurrien Timber and Gabriel limped off, forcing Gunners boss Mikel Arteta to swap around his back line THREE times by the 76th minute.And yet, despite all of that, a Liverpool side boasting attacking talents like Mo Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo were hardly making the home fans sweat with a peppering of the Arsenal goal.It was not until a Klopp-style counter-attack from back to front in the 81st minute did the visitors properly test the home defence.But even that finish was a tame one — Salah tapping in past David Raya into an almost empty net.And with nine minutes left plus seven minutes injury time, the expected onslaught for another, to nick all three points — the tally-ho approach — never came.Not Klopp’s heavy metal style, more pleasant folk music with a ukulele in a country pub.You get the impression that Slot was delighted with this outcome.For large parts, Liverpool were defensively sound, gave very little away and snuck away back to Merseyside with a point tucked under their arm and a bloody nose avoided.Yet it was in these sorts big blockbuster matches that Klopp and Liverpool thrived over their nine-year romance, full of excitement, thrills and last-gasp wins that earned them a Prem trophy in 2019-20 and plenty more down-to-the-wire chases with Manchester City.And with Arteta’s Arsenal on their knees — quite literally in some cases — and hanging on for dear life, these are the moments in title races that require a bit of crazy, not caution.A Klopp team of the past would have gone completely and totally Kloppy, throwing men forward at will, blasting their opponents away and forcing the ball into the net through passion and thunder alone, regardless of how open it left them at the back.Slot is not this sort of coach.He is measured, considerate, calm. Good qualities, but not always needed in do-or-die matches that ultimately determine where you finish in May.It is hard to say if this will come back to haunt Slot, who still insists on avoiding any use of the phrase ‘title contenders’ despite clearly being title contenders.With Aston Villa and Manchester City visiting Anfield over their next five Prem outings, we will see whether the Dutchman can loosen the leash and let his team grab games by the scruff of the neck instead of playing it safe.Because as we have seen in this league, going for broke often rewards you — just ask the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola.Fortune favours the brave.Slot needs to discover his own version of that if he is to truly emulate Klopp and transform this Liverpool side into one capable of seizing moments when they matter most.Mertesacker’s success was in evidence earlier this month in a Carabao Cup third round tie against Bolton. Boss Mikel Arteta named academy product Jack Porter, 16, as goalkeeper for the clash.It made him the youngest-ever player to start for the Gunners.Teenagers Ayden Heaven, Josh Nichols, Ismeal Kabia and Maldini Kacurri could all feature in Wednesday’s fourth-round tie against Preston.Arteta said: “It’s not a question about age, it’s that if they play it’s because they deserve to, the same as the rest of the players.READ MORE SUN STORIES”At the end of the day, we have to reward the people who each day they behave in a certain manner and they have the level to play in the manner we want.“I don’t care if they are players from the academy, youth players or seniors, tomorrow they will play.” More
