Wenger is French and knows that potential is there, waiting to be found in his homeland. Reine-Adelaide comes from the Parisian suburbs, just like Arsenal’s all-time leading goal scorer, Thierry Henry. Wenger had spectacular success in converting Henry from a left winger to a center forward, and he showed his knowledge again when he plucked Cesc Fàbregas out of Barcelona and threw him straight into the Premier League as a 17-year-old playmaker. Wenger has shown that if the talent is ripe, he will not hesitate to use it.

But Arsenal is rebuilding again after a relatively fallow decade when the need to pay for a new stadium meant Arsenal sometimes had to sell its star players. But Arsenal has bought Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sánchez in consecutive off-seasons, and with plenty of options on the wings and in the midfield, the new talents may have to be patient for first-team action.

Listen, however, to Wenger’s reaction after Sunday’s game. “I don’t remember how I played at 17,” the manager said, “but I didn’t play like that!”

He described Reine-Adelaide as something special. “He needs to work with us for a year,” Wenger added. “He needs to be in and out, to play with the under-21’s and develop. There’s fantastic potential there, and he will stay with us, not go out on loan to anyone.”

With Wenger, what often matters more is not the words, but the look in his eyes when he says them.

The patience to build while others rush to buy is perceived, by some, as Wenger’s strength. Others view that as a weakness, an unwillingness to spend the club’s money.

One week ago, Philip Harris, a member of Arsenal’s board, told The Daily Mail that the manager had 200 million pounds (about $310 million) in the bank to spend.

Harris is a rich, influential businessman at a club with two dominant shareholders: Stan Kroenke, who holds sway among Arsenal’s directors, and Alisher Usmanov, who is not on the board despite controlling 30 percent of the shares.