Arteta believes Sterling will make 'the difference' ahead of North London derby | Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has said Raheem Sterling needs to rebuild his confidence after being dumped by Chelsea and encouraged the England striker to get back to his best ahead of Sunday's north London derby.

Sterling could make his debut for Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after joining on loan on deadline day. The 29-year-old was surplus to requirements at Chelsea two years after joining from Manchester City and Arteta said it took just a 10-second conversation with Sterling to persuade him to sign.

But the Arsenal manager, who worked closely with Sterling during his time as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City, also admitted that the player had lost confidence after his experiences at Chelsea and losing his place in the England squad.

“It fluctuates in every career,” said Arteta. “When you know him and know how he always plays, is always present and important, when you have that status and that role, then it hits you when that changes. We have to rebuild that, but we have all the foundations and the right context for him to reach the level he wants.”

Asked if he thought Sterling still had the hunger to succeed at the highest level, Arteta said: “His first words were 'I dreamed of this call'. That's all. That tells you he really wants it and has already thought about the possibility and can imagine himself here, performing and enjoying his job. When that happened, I knew the rest about him so all the question marks were blown away. That's one of the things I love most about Raz – you put him on any pitch, anywhere in the world, and he's ready to be there to make the difference.”

Sterling is competing with Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard for the starting position against Spurs on Arsenal's left-wing attack, although Arteta could provide some variety if Martin Ødegaard is unfit. Tests on the Norwegian midfielder's injured ankle have produced inconclusive results, but Arsenal are apparently hoping it is not as bad as feared and Arteta has refused to rule him out as a player. He seems unlikely to be available, in which case Arteta will be without three key midfielders, with Declan Rice suspended and Mikel Merino suffering a shoulder injury.

Arteta – who said he has “bigger ambitions to fulfil” at Arsenal after signing a new three-year contract this week – insisted he would have no qualms about starting Ethan Nwaneri after being impressed by the 17-year-old playmaker's progress since joining the first-team squad.

“I think all the academy staff deserve a lot of credit for preparing the player so that he is now in the right position to shine,” he said. “He has done really well, he is very mature physically, very mature personally, his understanding of the game has improved a lot. And then we let him do it. He has enormous quality, a lot of talent and he needs the space to shine.”