When Mikel Arteta first set eyes on Reiss Nelson he knew he was looking at someone special.
Nelson was just 16 at the time and was still making his way through at Arsenal from the Hale End academy.
Arteta meanwhile was in the final year of his playing career with the Gunners and was starting to take his first steps into coaching, helping out when he could with some of the youth teams.
He worked with plenty of talented youngsters during that time, but it was Nelson who stood out.
“I coached him when he was 16 and straight away he caught my eye,” recalled Arteta.
It wasn’t just Arteta who Nelson used to impress back then. Arsene Wenger thought he was one of the best teenagers he had seen, while countless coaches at Hale End had tipped him for the top almost from the moment he arrived at the academy as an eight-year-old, having been spotted playing for local side Catford.
So the pace at which Nelson has progressed during the past few years will have come as a surprise to many. Most would have expected the talented attacker to have become a staple in the Arsenal side by now, but that has not been the case.
He signed his first professional deal in December 2016 and by the 2017-18 season he had made his way into the first-team picture, primarily being used as a wing-back by Wenger in the Europa League.
There were flashes of talent, but nothing that saw him stand out. Appearances in the Premier League were few and far between. By the time Nelson made the move to Germany to join Hoffenheim on loan for the 2018-19 campaign, he had started just two games in the top flight.
Already there were some who were beginning to wonder whether he would make the grade at Arsenal. Crystal Palace were keeping close tabs on him and there were some suggestions he could be used as a makeweight in a deal to bring Wilfried Zaha to the Emirates Stadium.
But wind the clock forward six months and nobody is linking Nelson with a move away now.
Since Arteta returned to Arsenal in December to take over as head coach he has named the winger in his starting XI in three of his five games in charge.
Nelson scored the winner in one of those matches, the 1-0 success against Leeds United in the FA Cup and he is expected to start again on Saturday when Arsenal host Sheffield United in the Premier League.
In Arteta, he has found a coach who believes in him.
“Reiss is a boy that is willing to learn and who loves the game, but I think he has been a little bit confused in the last few years about what direction he had to take and with some of the decisions that he made,” said the Spaniard when discussing the England U-21 international.
“Now I can see that he really wants it and I think he has the potential to do whatever he wants. He needs guidance, he needs a little bit of a stick, and he’s up for it. I trust him because he wants it and I think he can deliver.”
There are many reasons why Nelson’s career may not have progressed at the rate many were predicting when he was in his mid-teens.
There have been question marks over his attitude at times, something which was highlighted during his spell with Hoffenheim when he was dropped by Julian Nagelsmann as an ‘’educational measure."
He has also had to adjust to the demands of senior football. During his younger days, Nelson had been used to being the best player in his age group.
Even when he was playing for his local team alongside best friend Jadon Sancho - now starring with Borussia Dortmund and valued at over £100 million - it was Nelson who was seen as the better player.
But that does not always make the step up to senior football easy, as Arteta explains.
“He was that good when he was young that everything was too easy for him,” said Arsenal’s head coach.
“To then make the step from a high level it is a big step and if you haven't exposed yourself down here, to do it the next day up there doesn't happen.
“You have a lot of habits and those habits have to be taken away and replaced with new ones and he has done that very quickly, much quicker than I thought and that is why he has been playing.”
Nobody will be getting carried away at Arsenal about Nelson’s form under Arteta, but the signs are certainly encouraging.
There is clearly a connection between the two and a belief on both sides that the youngster has a real opportunity to live up to his potential.
The role Arteta played in Raheem Sterling’s development at Manchester City has been well documented, with both the player and Pep Guardiola crediting him for Sterling’s transformation from talented youngster to world-class attacker.
Arteta is keen to avoid comparisons, but is adamant Nelson has the ability to go to the very top.
Arsenal’s head coach said: “I wouldn't like to compare, what I will say is that Reiss has the potential to do whatever he wants.
“If he wants to do it, wants to learn and wants to challenge himself he can be a top, top player for this football club.
“At the moment I think he is on the right path, with the right attitude and then there are a lot of factors.
“He needs to deal with pressure, deliver every three days, score more goals and make the difference more for the team because he has the quality to do that.”
The ball is now in Nelson’s court. He has a coach who believes in him, he is going to get opportunities to play and he unquestionably has the talent to be a success.
What happens next is up to him, but under Arteta he appears to be on the right path to realising the potential he has been showing since he first arrived at Arsenal as an eight-year-old.
