Raheem Sterling destroys Arsenal teammate in training ahead of north London derby

Raheem Sterling is giving Mikel Arteta serious food for though ahead of his potential Arsenal debut against Tottenham in Sunday’s north London derby.

The Gunners travel to the home of their fiercest rivals without the likes of Mikel Merino and Declan Rice, while captain Martin Odegaard is almost certain to miss out with the ankle injury he picked up playing for Norway earlier this week.

Those blows, however, could offset by a first appearance for the deadline day loan signing from Chelsea who has spent the last two weeks getting up to speed with the demands of a manager he knows so well from their time together at Manchester City.

Sterling may have gone four months without playing a competitive game but he looks to have rediscovered his confidence judging by Saturday’s training session during which he bamboozled Ben White with some mesmerising footwork before unleashing a stinging shot which thumped against the underside of the crossbar.

Sterling, meanwhile, was dreaming of a phone call to join Arsenal and prove his doubters wrong, according to Arteta.

The Arsenal boss revealed he was convinced Sterling was in the right frame of mind to join Arsenal’s push for silverware after just 10 seconds on the phone to the 29-year-old England international.

‘His first words were: ‘I was dreaming about this call’,’ said Arteta. ‘That’s it. That tells you that he really wants it and was already thinking about the possibility and he could see himself here, delivering and enjoying his profession.

‘After 10 seconds I knew we had to bring him (to Arsenal) because he really wanted it, and that was my only question mark, what stage is he at in his career? But after 10 seconds I knew.

‘He looks great. He has got a big smile on his face, a lot of energy and he wants to prove a point. When someone has got that in their belly you sense it straight away. I don’t need to discuss his quality and what he can bring to the team.’

Sterling, a four-time Premier League winner with City, scored 14 goals in 59 appearances at Chelsea, but he was frozen out by new Blues manager Enzo Maresca.

‘His confidence is going to fluctuate, as it does in everybody’s career,’ admitted Arteta, who worked with Sterling at City.

‘Knowing him and how he is, it is about always playing, always being present and that is important to him.

‘When you have that status and role, and for that to be changed, that hits you. We have to rebuild that but we have all the foundations and right context for him to get to the level we want.

‘We are going to try to give him everything that we believe is going to help him and empower him to get the best version of him. We will see daily how that looks.’