A lifelong Arsenal fan living the dream, it's no surprise that Carl Jenkinson has signed a new five year deal before joining the England squad.
After joining from Charlton Athletic for 1m in 2011 he's come on leaps and bounds, being one of Arsenal's most consistent performers this season.
Tough beginnings
Jenkinson made his debut in THAT game at Old Trafford, being destroyed by Ashley Young and being sent off later on.
After that he only really played reserve games and struggled with a back injury for much of the season. His last appearance was a shaky but generally solid game at West Brom, the game that clinched third.
He naturally hadn't won over the Gooner faithful by this point, and with Bacary Sagna out with a broken leg and the season fast approaching there were calls for a new right back to be signed. Either that, or Francis Coquelin played there. Or Laurent Koscielny. Or Nico Yennaris.
There were moves for Gregory van der Wiel and Angel Rangel, but nothing materialised. Ultimately Arsene Wenger put his trust in the future Finnish international Jenkinson.
Explosion
See what I did there? Jenkinson has been a revelation, and has gone from a player nowhere near the England set-up to a possible first-choice right-back. While much of Arsenal's team have peaked and troughed, Jenkinson has been consistently excellent, and has really only improved.
Now he finds himself on the bench with Sagna returning, but I wonder how long he'll stay there.
Bacary Sagna is the best right-back in the Premiership, maybe in Europe, but he's 29 and isn't showing any signs of renewing his contract. It can be assumed he's looking at other options. That may mean he gets the Walcott treatment or at least has to compete with Jenkinson, which is good for both of them.
Jenkinson shows all the signs of succeeding Sagna, and soon. His crossing is better, and really there's been little difference since Sagna returned.
Watch out for Carl Jenkinson. He surprised Arsenal, soon he'll surprise England. But fortunately, he's an Arsenal man through and through and can't be tempted away.
That's refreshing.
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