Arsenal’s latest young Brazilian sensation Marquinhos has been hailed by Martin Keown after a goal and an assist on his debut for the Gunners.

If any Arsenal fans had been curious about what their £3.15million summer signing could do, they were left in no doubt after an impressive start for the north London side saw him open the scoring, before setting up Eddie Nketiah for the winner.

Marquinhos scored in the 16th minute of Arsenal’s Europa League opener away against Zurich, before turning provider after the hour mark to set up the English striker’s header to take all three points back to the Emirates.

And Keown was quick to heap praise on the youngster’s performance, likening him to one of the game’s biggest stars on BT, saying: ‘It’s the confidence, we talked about having that class in possession. I saw lots of that tonight from Marquinhos.

‘Look at that pass from Fabio Vieira, great ball into the channel, we talked about Nketiah and his movement, and then a great pass off his weaker foot. And then the finish! The ball just lifts before it comes into him and it’s a wonderful finish from him.

‘The first of many, hopefully. He’s got a huge future ahead of him. That’s a real opportunity now ahead of him.

‘Bukayo Saka is only a couple of years older himself, but such is the quality he’s going to get chances. He looked a bit like a Gnabry type player. He’s short, stocky, explosive pace.

‘He looked very classy. He picked and chose his moments cleverly, whipped a couple of crosses in. Really good quality. He kept on producing.

‘I think it’s great news. We’ve seen Saka, we’ve seen Smith Rowe in this very competition start their careers. I think we’re seeing another star here in the making.’

Arsenal have a long history of providing young players with a platform to improve at the highest level, with Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsdale, Saka and Smith Rowe the latest exponents of that ethos in recent years.

But one player for whom it did not work out at the Emirates was Gnabry who is now one of the game’s leading wide attacking players, starring for German titans Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and will almost certainly be part of the German national side to travel to Qatar for the World Cup in November.

Although Marquinhos has only played once for the senior team, against a side that the Gunners were expected to be beat comfortably, fans will be excited to see what the Brazilian can do if given a regular opportunity in the Premier League.

And it seems that he will be given that chance, with Arsenal set to play 17 more games in all competitions before the World Cup interval.

Mikel Arteta has already made it clear that he sees the 19-year-old as a contributor to his squad, after deciding not to loan him out after his summer arrival.

Arteta said: ‘I’m very happy with him. He has adapted very well and he’s a really likeable figure in the dressing room and around Colney.

‘His language is not great yet but I think his physicality has been pretty exceptional, for someone who has come from Brazil and has a different way to train and play, but he’s done it.

‘I think he’s got the qualities for how we want to play. We will keep him here for another few months and make sure that he establishes himself at the club and in the team. Afterwards, we’ll see what the best movement is for his career.’