Raheem Sterling has endured a very busy two weeks since sealing a deadline day loan from Chelsea to Arsenal. After Enzo Maresca made it clear the England international was not part of his plans, the Gunners emerged as a surprising destination with Edu and Mikel Arteta agreeing to his temporary arrival.

Having not been officially registered by his new club, Sterling had to watch the 1-1 draw with Brighton from the stands inside Emirates Stadium. With most of the Arsenal squad then heading on international duty, Sterling remained at London Colney and has spent the last fortnight working directly with Arteta.

Training clips have since shown the 29-year-old looks sharp and thus he could make his debut this weekend. Asked about the details behind signing the former Liverpool man, having previously worked with him, Arteta has revealed how quickly he knew it was the right decision to sign him.

“I was really surprised,” he said in a press conference. “The first call I had with him, I knew straight away in 10 seconds, we have to bring him here because he really wanted it. That was my only question mark, where is he at, what stage is he at in his career. After 10 seconds, I knew already before the next question, we need him here.”

On how he has looked in training, Arteta added: “He looks great, first of all because he’s got a big smile on his face, a lot of energy, he’s at it. He wants to prove a point. When someone has that in their belly, you sense it straight away. We don’t need to discover anything about his quality and what he can bring to the team.

“What I see is hunger, a player that wants to play every minute of every game and when that’s not the case, he’s not happy. He loves football, it’s what he likes doing every single day and I see that.