In the space of a few months, Emile Smith Rowe has gone from an unused prospect to one of Arsenal's most important players.

The man nicknamed the 'Croydon De Bruyne' was unexpectedly named in Arsenal's starting XI on Boxing Day against Chelsea and it's proven to be an inspired move by manager Mikel Arteta.

Smith Rowe hasn't looked back since that night at the Emirates Stadium and his rapid improvement continued in the north London derby.

The 20-year-old played on the left-hand side of attack during Arsenal's 2-1 triumph over Tottenham and he delivered arguably the finest performance of his short senior career.

Spurs' defence - Matt Doherty in particular - just couldn't live with Smith Rowe's speed, skill, intelligent movement and crisp passing throughout his 77 minutes on the pitch.

According to @Orbinho, a reliable Twitter account dedicated to posting Arsenal-related stats, Smith Rowe created four chances in the derby, more than all of Spurs' players put together.

Smith Rowe in action

The Englishman also completed 97% of his passes, the best accuracy of any player.

His numbers from the game are mighty impressive and during the first half, Smith Rowe sent Spurs' midfield general Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for a hotdog.

Thanks to a quick feint and a burst of speed, the Arsenal man left the Dane trailing in his wake and he was then able to find Alexandre Lacazette in the box.

The Frenchman sadly robbed his teammate of a wonderful assist, but the play from Smith Rowe was brilliant and you can watch that moment of magic at 0:30 in the footage below.

We strongly recommend watching the entirety of the video as well, as his individual highlights against Spurs are a joy to behold.

A truly world-class performance and had Smith Rowe's long-range effort that cannoned off the crossbar in the first half gone in, it would have been a display worthy of a 10/10 rating.

Arteta was understandably still full of praise for the young creator in his post-match press conference.

"I think he [Smith Rowe] had a magnificent performance as well again," the Arsenal manager said. "I think he shows not only quality but his personality on the pitch.

"His energy gave us something different. Today in a derby you need some big individual performances and for sure he had one."

Who needs Mesut Ozil when you've got Smith Rowe, eh?