Arsène Wenger believes the “raw talent” of Nicklas Bendtner may need further time to develop.
The Arsenal manager sent his 19-year-old striker out on loan to Birmingham City last season to learn his trade. He came back with valuable experience and a burgeoning reputation.
As a result, Wenger has brought Bendtner into his first-team squad for the coming season. He believes the tall, powerful Dane will compliment his other forwards — Robin van Persie, Eduardo and Emmanuel Adebayor - however the Frenchman knows both player and manager may have to be patient.
“At the moment he is a raw talent,” said Wenger. “Nicklas is not completely ready to start in the Premiership and I wanted to give him as many games as I could in pre-season to help him understand what is needed.
“He is an intelligent and open-minded boy. We can have a frank discussion on what he has to do and he listens then tries to do it.
“He is very, very confident too. When you see a guy like that take the ball and take a penalty [against PSG] in his first game. That means he does not lack confidence.
“There was a lot of interest in him around Europe but we wanted to keep him and extended his contract.
“Certainly I believe the talent is in there. He is super quick, very tall with good technique and he is intelligent. He just needs to play at a higher pace now.”
