Former Brent District player Tafari Moore believes he made the right decision to follow Raheem Sterling out of the exit door at Loftus Road.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Tafari Moore in action for England Under-17sTafari Moore in action for England Under-17s (Image: EMPICS Sport)

Moore grew up in Kilburn and spent four years playing as a centre-back at QPR before being signed up by the Gunners.

He said: “Arsenal came in for me and I had to make a decision whether to stay or go. I decided to join Arsenal because it is a better opportunity.

“I know Raheem [Sterling] very well because we were at QPR together – we left at the same time.

“I lost touch with him for about a year but we found each other again through Twitter and now he just encourages me.

“He knows about my games so if he is watching he will message me and say well done. Even though he is up in Liverpool he is humble and has remained the same.”

Despite being on the books of a Premier League giant, the talented teenager recently enjoyed a kickabout with friends back in Kilburn and was impressed by what he saw.

He said: “There are more players to come out of Brent. During the summer break I was off and I was playing at Paddington Rec with my friends and there were a lot of players there who play for clubs at a younger age – some of them are at QPR.

“South Kilburn has a lot of young talent coming out of it.”

The 17-year-old helped England to European Championship glory in May and is looking to get out on loan this season as he looks to impress Weneger who has signed Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers to compete the right-back spot which was vacated by Bacary Sagna who left for Manchester City.

He said:“I want to get first-team experience. Last season I gained a lot of Under-21 experience but I’d like to go out on loan to see where I stand at first-team level.

“Obviously the club are bringing in these really good players so it is going to be hard to break into the first team – but having those players in front of you gives you a push to try to work towards getting ahead of them.

“I’ve trained twice with the first team and I’m working hard to hopefully get more opportunities to do that more often and play some games.”

Moore stood out for the Arsenal Under-21 team who beat Harrow Borough 5-1 on Saturday and enjoyed adapting his game to suit a more physical style of play.

He said: “It is good to play against teams like Harrow Borough because it is a different challenge.

“Rather than playing a team that will just pass it and pass it, sometimes you need to learn how to deal with teams who loft the ball and add some aggression to the game.

“It’s also good to play against first-team players because they are proper men so they are strong and it helps you to develop that physical side of the game.

“Every game is different and if you go down to the Conference then you will have to deal with a lot of balls getting knocked in behind – it isn’t always played on the floor.”

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