Manager Arsene Wenger is convinced Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs has what it takes to follow Ashley Cole and become a mainstay for club and country.
Gibbs has shaken off recent injury setbacks and is now a solid member of the Gunners defence.
Following the international retirement of Cole after not being selected for the World Cup by Roy Hodgson, Everton’s Leighton Baines and, if fully fit, Manchester United teenager Luke Shaw look set to be the preferred options for the European Championship campaign, which continues next week against San Marino and then Estonia.
Gibbs, however, is the only English left-back with Champions League action this season, as Arsenal prepare for tonight’s Group D tie against Galatasaray at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger believes Gibbs – with only three senior England appearances, the last coming after a two-year absence against Germany in November 2013 – can go on to emulate Cole, who was first choice for both Arsenal and then Chelsea while earning a century of international caps.
“Kieran looks to me that he’s going into second gear now and he realises that he can trust his body, he can trust his talent,” said Wenger of the Arsenal Academy graduate.
“He has such a great potential that now if he just lets it go, because he can dribble as well, when he arrived at the club he was 16 and a winger, midfielder, and I saw that potential didn’t really come out.
“I saw he was intelligent and maybe I could transform him into a defender. It was a bit similar to Ashley Cole. We try always to show him confidence.
Wenger continued: “It is a good example (for Gibbs) to follow because Ashley is top. You see stories about Cole, but on the day of a game, when it mattered and when you had to be there, he was always there. You have to respect that.”
Arsenal continue to be beset by injuries and will be without Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey for at least a month because of a hamstring injury picked up in the weekend draw with Spurs, while captain Mikel Arteta is also sidelined by a calf problem.
England’s Jack Wilshere, however, has recovered from a twisted ankle.
Wenger maintains the club, having brought in a new fitness coach Shad Forsythe, who worked previously with the German national team, are trying to get to the bottom of why they pick up so many injuries.
“We made a lot of changes, in the way we prepare, in the way we work on prevention for injuries,” added Wenger. “We have not found out why it happened.
“We know a lot more than 18 years ago than when I arrived, but still not enough to predict 100 per cent scientifically what happens to everybody.”