Lennart Karl’s marked rise to fame in the last week has predictably resulted in the scouts of three Premier League giants being sent to watch the 17-year-old in action. But despite Arsenal’s now clear status as the best team in England right now, Mikel Arteta may be a problem for the Gunners chiefs in their bid to recruit the teenager.

Having made his senior debut at the Club World Cup, Karl has now cemented himself in the European football consciousness with two outstanding goals in the space of four days, first against Club Brugge on his full Champions League debut, and then after coming off the bench in the Bundesliga victory over Borussia Monchengladbach.

With Arjen Robben watching from the stands, comparisons have been easily drawn to the Bayern Munich legend, such is the way Karl drifts past defenders before passing the ball into the top corner.

There are already calls for Julian Nagelsmann to include him in his Germany squad for the November internationals in the hope that he can prove to be as serviceable a replacement for Jamal Musiala for his country as he is increasingly looking to be for his club.

No young players anywhere in Europe with Karl’s quality, not even if playing for a club of Bayern’s historic standing, are now deemed off limits to the Premier League talent hoovers, and Bildjournalist Christian Falk claimed on Welt TVthat Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all had scouts in attendance on Saturday to watch Karl in action.

Bildsuggested Chelsea may have the upper hand in talks should they face a fight for his signature as the teenager is represented by former Blues midfielder Michael Ballack, who negotiated his renewal at Bayern in August, which expires at the end of the 2027/2028 season. But that might not be the only reason Arsenal may struggle to beat Chelsea, and indeed City, to the attacking midfielder.

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Having quite rightly been heralded for his use of the Arsenal academy last season, with Ethan Nwaneri featuring more than he would have expected and Myles Lewis-Skelly enjoying an incredible breakout campaign, Mikel Arteta has largely snubbed the pair this term.

Three brief substitute appearances for 15-year-old Max Dowman have painted a picture of a manager still trusting in youthwhen the reality is closer to what Arteta was heavily criticised for earlier in his tenure, with that condemnation peaking in December 2023, when he opted to play?fringe veterans in a Champions League dead rubber against PSV Eindhoven rather than giving minutes to promising academy players.

Arteta, and plenty of Arsenal fans, will quite reasonably point to their place at the top of the Premier League table and 100 per cent Champions League record as pretty solid evidence of his sound decision-making with regard to team selection. And while few would have guessed that Lewis-Skelly would be handed a watching brief this season, Riccardo Calafiori has been outstanding in his stead.

All three of Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri and Dowman signing new deals suggests they believe they will be handed enough opportunities under Arteta at the Emirates. But while Arsenal winning the Premier League, the Champions League or even both this season would surely render such doubts insignificant, Karl and Ballack may well be seeing Arteta’s reversion to his late-2023 mindset as cause for concern, particularly when Chelsea – a now world-renowned spot for young talent to be handed ample opportunities – are circling as an alternative.