Mikel Arteta just learned what Arsenal fans already knew about Christian Nørgaard

Christian Nørgaard started in Arsenal's 3-2 Champions League win over Kairat on Wednesday night and showed Mikel Arteta what his side's fans already knew about him.

The midfielder was handed a rare chance as he came in for Martín Zubimendi at the base of midfield and put in a very impressive display to prove his worth as a valuable member of the Gunners squad.

While it may be hard to believe, Arteta may have only just learned how valuable Nørgaard can be despite his side's supporters already being well educated on his ability.

Christian Nørgaard has proven his worth to Arsenal and Mikel Arteta

Nørgaard joined Arsenal last summer as their third signing of the transfer window, crossing the London divide from fellow Premier League club for a reported fee of £12million. Making the move to the north of the capital just days after big money signing Martín Zubimendi, it was clear he was always going to be a squad option, but it has taken some time for him to even be recognised as that.

While he did miss the opening weeks of the season due to a minor injury, the Denmark international has find appearances hard to come by since joining the Gunners. Including Wednesday's game against Kairat, Nørgaard has played just 12 times, with only three of those games coming in the Premier League and the others against weaker sides in the cup competitions.

With Zubimendi playing so well at the base, his Danish counterpart was always going to struggle for minutes, but Arteta has previously had so many opportunities to give the Spaniard a rest in favour of Nørgaard, but just didn't seem to take them.

That changed as he opted to start his side's number 16 in Wednesday's dead rubber game against Kairat and as he got some decent minutes under his belt alongside putting in a good performance to show he is a more than capable back-up to Zubimendi.

He was involved in his side's third goal as he played a delightful flick through to Kai Havertz, who then sent the ball across goal for Gabriel Martinelli to score. He then could have had an assist of his own just before being withdrawn when he sent a ball over the top for Gabriel Jesus to collect and score, only for the flag to be raised for offside.

Kairat didn't offer particularly much in attack, barring their two goals, but that didn't stop Nørgaard from looking solid in the centre, winning six out of eight ground duels and both of his aerial battles.

Zubimendi will continue to be Arteta's number one choice at the base, but he should now be very aware that Nørgaard can do a job if he has to come in. With the Spaniard struggling slightly in recent games, the Dane could be more useful than ever now and, just as fans have been claiming all season, he is very capable of stepping up if required.