Andre Harriman-Annous: Meet Arsenal youngster primed for key back-up role in title challenge | OneFootball

Goals, movement and exemplary work ethic, why Mikel Arteta is ready to trust 17-year-old starlet

Andre Harriman-Annous has been proving people wrong since the very first steps of his career.

The 17-year-old Arsenal striker enjoyed a dream week last month, making his senior debut before playing in the Champions League for the first time.

His journey actually began with Tottenham’s pre-academy after he was scouted playing for Whetstone Wanderers.

Harriman-Annous led the line solidly on his Arsenal debut against Brighton last month

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By the age of seven, Harriman-Annous had joined Arsenal, but even that was not straight forward.

A scout had actually been watching another youngster in action, however Harriman-Annous caught his eye to secure a dream move across north London.

He is a boyhood Arsenal fan and growing up his heroes were Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. He is too young to see have seen Thierry Henry in his pomp, but watched videos of him on YouTube.

Harriman-Annous followed in the footsteps of his older brother Brandon by joining Arsenal. Growing up, the pair would practice together in their spare time and push each other.

Brandon, who is 19, has just joined Berkhamsted after a stint with Hull’s academy, but Andre is beginning to make waves at Arsenal.

That was not always a certainty, though, and Harriman-Annous has spoken about how he was “pretty nervous” before signing scholarship terms last year. He was one of the last players to hear if he had done enough to secure a deal.

Harriman-Annous has impressed for Arsenal Under-21s this season

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Arsenal’s faith in Harriman-Annous has paid off and his development over the past 18 months has rapidly accelerated.

He scored 18 goals in 37 games for Arsenal’s youth sides last season in what was his breakthrough campaign.

Going into the season, there had been concern at Arsenal how their youth sides would fare in attack after Chido Obi left to join Manchester United.

But Harriman-Annous stepped up to the plate and flourished as a striker. He had previously also played out wide or in midfield, but the No9 spot became his own.

The progress was noted and Harriman-Annous was invited to train with the first team last season.

He has thanked Jorginho for the advice he gave him during that time and it has helped his integration this season.

After going on Arsenal’s pre-season tour during the summer, Harriman-Annous signed his first professional contract in August.

He has taken it all in his stride. That is his nature, with people describing him as a focused and unfazed individual. Although he is superstitious, with Harriman-Annous always stepping onto the pitch with his right foot first.

Mikel Arteta has shown he is not afraid to use Harriman-Annous

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The day before his senior debut against Brighton last month, there was a sense in training that Harriman-Annous could get minutes after shape work done in the session.

When the striker was eventually told he was in the team, his response was that he was excited and ready to go.

Max Dowman, given he is just 15, grabbed the headlines but Harriman-Annous put in a solid and mature performance.

He has worked on his ability to hold the ball up and link play, which showed. His natural trait of timing his runs was on show, too, and Arsenal’s second goal came after Harriman-Annous’ shot was saved, with Bukayo Saka scoring the rebound.

Youth coaches have often praised Harriman-Annous’ movement, while his selfless nature has stood out. He works for the team and that is something Arteta, in particular, is big on.

Arteta also demands players to have an exemplary work ethic - and Harriman-Annous certainly has that.

He may have scored 18 goals for Arsenal’s youth teams last season, but his target was 20. Unsatisfied, he does extra sessions to hone his finishing skills.

Harriman-Annous is well aware he is at the very start of his career and there is plenty of hard work ahead.

It is why having Maro Itoje as a cousin is helpful. It is hard to think of a better sounding board than the England rugby captain, who knows what it takes to get to the top of your sport.

Harriman-Annous has a long way to go to get there, but history has shown it would be wrong to write him off.