Arsenal could have really unearthed a gem in Wellington

Not many people could profess to have known who Wellington Silva was when he signed for Arsenal at the start of the month. The youngster had been at Arsenal the previous December and even scored 4 in an under 16s game for the Gunners against Norwich but unless you follow Brazilian football or saw his 2 appearances at the FIFA U17 World Cup last year he will remain somewhat of an unknown quantity. Many Arsenal fans may have been expecting a big name striker to come in during the transfer window and may have been disappointed with the signing, but don't be.

Arsene Wenger has been known to have an eye for talent and in the early 90s he helped nurture a young French talent called Thierry Henry. Henry would leave Wenger at Monaco and join Juventus but would rejoin Wenger in 1999 at Arsenal and the rest they say is history.

But Wenger could be about to make history again as Wellington Silva is some player. Although he is nowhere near Henry's level I can see similarities between the two as Wellington too can operate on the wing with explosive bursts of pace or can float off the wing and pose a threat to goal. His creativity is ridiculous and he is technically sound with good feet.

Like so many other Brazilian wonderkids that are highly touted by the media, he may or may not live up to the high expectations that come with having his name in the headlines and signing for a top team, but when he joins Arsenal next January he will be one year more experienced, one year more mature and under a manager who has a rich past in developing younger players.

Amidst the plethora of vids that have recently surfaced to display the future Arsenal players talent, I found this. It shows clips in what must have been a hell of a performance as Wellington was at the heart of Fluminense's fight back against Sao Bernado in a youth game just over a week ago. 2-0 down, Wellington took over the game and turned it into the Wellington show as Fluminese went on to win 3-2:

[youtube abqT4TEXASI nolink]