Destroying the ridiculous Leandro Trossard myth threatening to undermine his Arsenal career

Leandro Trossard isarguably one of the most successful signings in Arsenal’s modern history and could go down as the best January signing the club has ever made. In a short space of time, the Belgian has become a critical part of Mikel Arteta’s squad and scored some of the biggest goals in some of the most important games.

Trossard was of course the scorer of the equaliser against Bayern Munich. But he also scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Porto, the decisive third against Liverpool, the late equaliser against Chelsea and the winner at Everton and that is just this season.

He currently has scored six goals from the substitutes bench this season in all competitions, more than any other player across Europe’s big-five leagues. This is quite the achievement, but it has also created one of the club’s current standout myths which often sees Trossard wrongfully judged and profiled.

You’ve probably seen or heard words from others or perhaps even thought to yourself that Trossard is only effective as a player from the bench. That he shouldn’t be starting games because when he does, he’s simply not as good.

This is a view which has begun to circulate certainly more this season and it is perhaps understandable to see why but it is no less an unfair view of the former Brighton man. The reality for Trossard is that he was always going to be predominantly the fourth-choice forward behind Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and, most crucially, Gabriel Martinelli.

With the addition of Kai Havertz, it has made competition for places in the Arsenal forward line even tougher – which is certainly of great benefit to the club. Yet this view that Trossard’s place should always be on the bench and with the away leg in Munich coming next week that