Arsenal right-back Tafari Moore seeks loan move to gain experience

While Bacary Sagna has departed to Manchester City, Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers have both arrived to battle it out for the right-back spot – and Moore believes some first-team experience away from the Emirates will help his development.

He said: “I want to get first-team experience. Last season I gained a lot of Under-21 experience but I’d like to go out on loan to see where I stand at first-team level.

“Obviously the club are bringing in these really good players so it is going to be hard to break into the first team – but having those players in front of you gives you a push to try to work towards getting ahead of them.

“I’ve trained twice with the first team and I’m working hard to get more opportunities to do that more often and play some games.”

The 17-year-old stood out for the Arsenal Under-21 team who beat Harrow Borough 5-1 on Saturday and believes time spent as a striker has enabled him to be an attacking outlet for the Gunners.

He said: “Back in the day I used to play as a striker, and I try to use my speed as an advantage to try and get forward as well as defend.

“Even though I’m a defender I like to try to help the attackers by overloading down the right wing and creating chances.

“The coaches know I have pace and they encourage me to attack, but they also tell me to remember that I’m a defender.

“It’s good to play against teams like Harrow Borough because it’s a different challenge.

“Rather than playing a team that will just pass it and pass it, sometimes you need to learn how to deal with teams who loft the ball and add some aggression to the game.

“It’s also good to play against first-team players because they are proper men so they are strong and it helps you to develop that physical side of the game.

“Every game is different and if you go down to the Conference then you will have to deal with a lot of balls getting knocked in behind – it isn’t always played on the floor.”