Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has insisted that he does not need to be told about the threat that Alex Song will pose to his side in their Premier League match against West Ham United on Sunday.
The Frenchman signed a 17-year-old Song from Bastia and helped develop the Cameroon international into one of the premier defensive midfield players in the world before his transfer from the Gunners to Barcelona in 2012.
The 27-year-old is on loan at the Hammers from the Catalan club until the end of the campaign, and Wenger admits that Song's quality is there for all to see when he is a permanent fixture in the starting lineup.
He told reporters: "Alex Song is a good player. I brought him here at 17 and kept him despite all the opinions against him and he developed into a very good player.
"You don't need to convince me he's a good player. I took him at a very young age and gave him his chance.
"I think he was a very good player when he was here and he didn't play a lot when he was in Spain - you see players like Santi Cazorla who always looks stronger [when they play regularly]."
Some reports have claimed that Arsenal rejected the chance to re-sign Song on loan in the summer.
Simon Sinclair
