Paul Merson has praised Arsenal and Liverpool loanees Joe Willock and Takumi Minamino for their debut performances yesterday, as he told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports.
On Deadline Day, Arsenal allowed Willock to make the switch to Newcastle, whilst Minamino made the surprise move to Southampton.
Both the Arsenal and Liverpool duo happened to make their debuts in the same game, as they both scored, with the Magpies beating the Saints 3-2 in an entertaining Premier League encounter.
This is what Merson had to say about the two players, as Minamino scored perhaps the standout goal of the game.
“Minamino scores out of nothing,” said Merson. “Great finish. You can see he has been at Liverpool. He takes it in and puts it into the roof of the net.
“Willock had a good debut. He scored his goal and he worked very hard. When they were down to ten men, and nine men, he kept the ball well.
“He bought time and he got a couple of free-kicks. That’s perfect.”
For Willock, he needed the game time and he wasn’t going to get that at Arsenal where Mikel Arteta was looking to trim the squad.
Even though Newcastle are challenging in the bottom half, the struggles and the pressure they are under will make him a better player, both mentally and with the ball at his feet.
As for Minamino, he will perhaps feel hard done by because he didn’t do much wrong at Anfield, and given their injury record, it was a surprise they allowed him to leave.
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