15 years 181 days. What were you doing when you were 15 years old? Unless you were making first-team appearances for the Premier League leaders, Ethan Nwaneri is ahead of you.
After that slightly demoralising stat, it is time to understand what a huge record Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri has created. After coming off the bench against Brentford, Ethan Nwaneri has become Premier League’s, and by extension Arsenal’s youngest-ever debutant.
Aged 15 years and 181 days, Ethan Nwaneri becomes the youngest player in #PL history! 🤩#BREARS | @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/7gepwExUaD
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 18, 2022
So, who is Ethan Nwaneri? And is this appearance just for the sake of record? How good is he? We try to answer.
Who is Ethan Nwaneri?
Ethan Nwaneri is a 15-year-old Arsenal academy player who plays as an attacking midfielder. Still signed on schoolboy terms (Players can’t sign professional terms till they’re 16), Nwaneri has been starring for Arsenal U18s this season. Furthermore, Nwaneri had already been playing U18s football at the age of 14. Seeing through that lens, his first-team appearance for Arsenal at age 15 is not even a surprise!
Ethan Nwaneri potential
All the talk of how good Nwaneri can be is useless because his accomplishments speak for themselves.
It can’t be stressed enough how big of an achievement it is to turn out for Arsenal’s senior team while still being on schoolboy contract terms. Nwaneri came on against Brentford and the biggest compliment that can be paid to him is, he didn’t look like a boy amongst men.
To look that calm and composed in senior football at just 15 shows the sky is the limit for him.
Manager Mikel Arteta has widely sealed his place as one of the best young managers in world football and he is always keen to give youngsters a chance, just like Arsenal gave him a chance. Therefore, Nwaneri can expect to make intermittent appearances like these throughout the season.
Nwaneri already regularly trains with Arsenal’s first-team already and training with the likes of Odegaard, Saka and Jesus will only help accelerate his development.
Ethan Nwaneri stats
Of course, the shining stat that has already gone down in history books is his appearance in Arsenal’s first team. However, his rise had been a long time coming. Using “Long-time coming” for a 15-year-old might seem silly, but that’s how good Nwaneri has been in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at FootTheBall…