Arsenal: Jeff Reine-Adelaide will have pre-season chance says Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed new signing Jeff Reine-Adelaide will have a chance to prove his worth during the Gunners pre-season alongside other youngsters such as Chris Willock, Alex Iwobi, Gedion Zelalem and Chuba Akpom.

The 17-year-old France starlet has arrived from the Lens academy to the Emirates Stadium during the current transfer window in a deal that also saw his teammate Yassin Fortune make the same move to north London after, according to Daily Mail, Arsenal paid around £3m plus bonuses to secure the services of the duo.

And despite his youth, Wenger has not hesitated to include the under 17 France international in his 27-man squad for the Barclays Asia Trophy, which the Gunners will play in Singapore.

Having already taken advantage of his knowledge of French football in the past to sign the likes of Yaya Sanogo, Wenger has expressed his hopes for Adelaide to have a future in the first team.

He pointed out that even though the younsgter currently plays on the flanks, he may develop as a central midfielder, in a similar way Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has done to established himself in the first team.

"You will see Jeff Reine-Adelaide, who we just brought in. We'll see Chris Willock, Alex Iwobi, Gedion Zelalem and I don't count Chuba Akpom, who is already with us. We'll have a few good, young players who have a very good talent and are very promising," Wenger said to the club's official website.

"Adelaide is a player I have identified in France. He just won the European Championship with the under-17s. He was born in 1998, which is always a good year for Arsenal... you cannot have bad players in that year!

"He's an offensive player but he can develop into an all-round midfielder as well. At the moment, he plays on the right or left but I think he can develop as a central midfielder as well."

Meanwhile, Wenger says he expects to have a "strong" team during the Barclays Asia Trophy despite not being able to include Alexis Sanchez and David Ospina after the South American duo played in the recent Copa America.

Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky have also been excluded from his squad due to injuries, while Serge Gnabry will be unable to play after participating in the European Under 21 Championship.

Wenger said: "It will be a very strong squad. Some players are only coming back on Friday. Most of those will only play in the second game. In the first game, we'll have the players who have come in last Monday. We'll have a very strong team."