Ethan Nwaneri was involved with Arsenal’s U21 side last season and enjoyed some impressive moments at that level when he was still a schoolboy.
This season, though, he has stepped up to have an excellent campaign for the second-string despite technically still being a first year.
The brace that Nwaneri scored in the 5-3 defeat against Aston Villa on Monday means that he now has ten goals in eleven Premier League 2 appearances this season; an excellent return for a midfielder.
There are still two games of the regular season left for the U21s before the play-offs but thoughts are already beginning to turn to next campaign and what will happen with Nwaneri, who will surely be looking to play at a higher level.
Nwaneri has already made two substitute appearances in the Premier League, which came over a year apart against Brentford and West Ham United. The 17-year-old, who signed his first professional contract with the club last month, will aim to earn an official promotion to the first-team squad and will be looking for as much involvement as possible with the senior side next season.
Playing in cup games and perhaps getting some more cameos in the Premier League would represent a step forward for Nwaneri, who could also prove to be a useful option out wide if needed.
A potential loan move could follow at some stage but in some cases it is best for a player to remain at Arsenal, provided that they will receive sufficient opportunities to impress.
Nwaneri has continued to develop this season. His excellent passing range remains intact but he is also finding the net with regularity and has become somewhat stronger.
Another useful trait that Nwaneri possesses is his ability to conjure up moments of magic even on occasions when he is not playing particularly well.
Usually, though, he performs to a very high standard and doesn’t seem fazed by the challenges that he faces. What happens next will be intriguing.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Is he more of a midfielder or a winger, I still haven’t quite understood? My impression from the little I saw him play is he’s somewhat of a rich man’s ESR, good but not great passer, more of a dribbler and scorer out of midfield who can also be very effective on the wing cutting inside? Is he more likely to turn into a good backup for Saka or Odegaard, or both? The lack of superb vision suggests more towards Saka…
He reminds me of a left-footed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Kind of a centre midfielder, kind of a wide player. He could potentially be the left 8 – I think he’s more suited to it than ESR (who I maintain should be playing as one of the wide forward positions) but as you say, he’s a bit of an inbetweener.
Ox = disappointment, both at Arsenal and Liverpool. I want so much better from Nwaneri.
Can Nwaneri ve like Mainoo? If he has that in the locker, Arteta to give him the keys.
Call me a romantic, but I always liked Ox. I think he was wasted at Liverpool.
You’re a romantic
I think he was yet another one of our young players ruined by injury. In another timeline, Ox and Wilshere were the next Xavi and Iniesta.
Very talented physically and technically but 0 football IQ
I disagree with that. Or maybe it’s just because I think he’s too introspective and I equate being intelligent to having a football brain.
I imagine that Ethan will be very much a regular member of the 1st team squad next season and should have an increasing number of appearances off of the bench and hopefully the odd start in the League Cup – depending on the draw.
Only if Arteta learns to rotate and rest key players earlier when games are won. I have high hopes for Nwaneri. Everyone loves an academy player coming through to be a success.
that’s so very true. we have not brought in an academy player for a while,
We haven’t brought through many if any academy players recently but maybe that’s because they haven’t been up to the level required and I know people will say they need a chance and I’d agree but only if they’re good enough.
Saka has looked exhausted the past week.
He is, but there’s no one that we can rotate him with. I hate using spurs as an example, but signing Brennan Johnson and even Timo Werner as a loan signing was smart. Pace on the wings is always be useful in a pinch. If we had either, we’d have rotated Saka and Martinelli more.
Only if Arteta trusted them, and his bar is probably higher than either of them.
Arteta has NEVER started a teenager in the prem
His love of youth is a myth
Martinelli was a teenager while Arteta’s been manager.
I think he means an “unknown” teenager making a debut. Martinelli was an Emery signing and was playing in the first team by the time Arteta arrived.
2 people marked your comment down 2 people marked down a FACT. Says it all about some deluded fans
arteta has not brought in and given time to an academy player ; Martinelli was sterted off by Unai and given debut by Frank L.
The fans who will try anything to knock down the manager and the team. Utterly hilarious.
We have one of the youngest teams in the league, and we play the best football.
I get the obsession with youth — but you’ve got to grow up.
We do not play the best football. If we did we would be leading.
And I am not obsessed with youth. I am obsessed with us being and having the best. Arteta isn’t it. His previous obsession with Willian on the face of clear bad form, and his same for the inverted fb Zinchenko against better teams shows he is not
Explaining that Martinelli arrived at the club and was already playing first team football by the time Arteta became coach/manager is knocking him down?
I’d better not tell you the Arsenal- Aston Villa result then! what thin skin some people have!
MA has been four years and half at Arsenal; he hasn’t brought in any new academy players. I’m sure there’s talent enough to be given a chance and make the grade, but it hasn’t happened. Im excited by the project; I’m not saying he needs to go, but there are faults such as not rotating and not giving academy a chance
And MA has done a remarkable job in that time. His system is incredibly complex, so much so that new players with plenty of experience confess to relearning the game under him. Young players need time to be themselves, confidently, and they also need years of coaching, at the top level, before they are first team regulars. But they have to learn to express themselves first, so that isn’t coached out of them in rigid systems. All of the academy players included in first-team training on a weekly basis all say the same thing: Arteta is amazing, we feel part… Read more »
Please name the academy players ready to start in the PL.
Who the fuck is Frank L.?
Frank Lampard can fuck off
But Arteta never started him in his teens.
Wasn’t he injured for almost a year when Arteta took over?
So what? What does it mean if he hasn’t? Which teenager would you have started? He comes from learning from Pep. Which teens did he trust? Foden… look how long he had to wait to arrive and look what he is now. Rico Lewis still slowly integrating… If you want to be a teen playing for Arsenal you need to be better than Cozier-Duberry or Sagoe Jnr. Grow up mate
MA has perhaps eight or nine players that he trusts and the others struggle to have any kind of run in the team. I see a real struggle for him to break into the team. Personally I feel MA will loan him out next season. He watches him in training every day and I am sure he is aware of his ability but I feel he needs to see how he stands up in the world – how he handles himself, his attitude and willingness to learn and listen away from Arsenal and away from what he has always known.… Read more »
Likely he will be in the 25 for next year, because of the “homegrown” rule. Once Ramsdale leaves, I believe the squad will be down to eight “homegrown” players, which means if any of Nketiah, Nelson, or ESR leave (or Hein goes on loan) then they will each have to be replaced by a “homegrown” player.
You don’t have to be registered in the 25 until you’ve reached 21 I believe…
As far as I can tell we currently have 11 homegrown players in the squad: Ramsdale, Raya, Rice, White, Saliba, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah, Nelson, Hein
If Eddie, Reiss and Rambo all go we’ll still be able to fill all the homegrown slots even if none of them are replaced with HG players. I imagine Hein would be replaced a youth player if he goes, which leaves Smith-Rowe as the unknown (though I desperately hope he stays).
Also worth noting that we don’t HAVE to have 8 homegrown players, we just have to not have more than 17 non-homegrown players.
This is COMPLETELY off the point here so apologies. But why does everybody talk about “transitions” in football now. It’s such pseudo intellectual shite. It literally means the counter attack. Spanish and German speaking managers started using the term as it was a direct translation and English pundits picked it up as if it was someone inventing the wheel. If you’re a pundit now and you’re not talking about transitions or “in the transition”you’re at nothing. It literally means the transition between attack and defence which is the counter attack. Gegenpressing replacing closing down quickly was bad enough but this… Read more »
What about ‘In the moment’ that’s a good one?.
We do need more players that can provide that such of ”Magic” moment during tough games, like that Bayern and Villa games recently
hello bench
I’d keep him around the first team squad next season
Hearing good things about Charlie Patino as well. Considering highly likely exits from midfield positions this summer, what are his odds of making the squad next season?
Low. MA /Edu made a mistake signing Vieira, and will keep him to save face.