Nwaneri is an obvious talent, but 15 is too young for professional football

Ethan Nwaneri is an obvious talent, but 15 years old is surely still too young for the incredible pressures of professional football.

As with policemen, so it is with footballers. They do look younger these days. And with the 2022/23 season having already seen two records broken for the youngest ever players, it seems they actually are.

Congratulations to Ethan Nwaneri of Arsenal and Christopher Atherton of Northern Irish club Glenavon. You’re the first footballers young enough to be my grandsons. FFS.

Christopher got there first. At 13 years and 329 days he became the youngest player to play in a first-class match for a UK team, when he came on as a substitute for Glenavon during the second half of their 6-0 League Cup win against Dollingstown on September 13.

Somewhat remarkably, he broke a record that had been in place for 42 years. And he did it in style too, knocking almost a year off the previous record of 14 years and 323 days, set by Eamon Collins for Blackpool in February 1982.

But the introduction of Nwaneri for Arsenal at the end of their Premier League match against Brentford was a on a different scale. Nwaneri was 15 years and 181 days when he took to the pitch to become the youngest ever Premier League player, though the record he beat was somewhat more recent that Atherton’s, set by Harvey Elliott for Fulham in 2019 at 16 years and 30 days.

These were two very different debuts. Atherton’s came with 15 minutes to play and he managed an assist with his first touch, crossing for Matthew Snoddy to tap in Glenavon’s sixth goal of the night. But it also came in front of a crowd of hundreds – no figure for this match is available, but their average attendance for league matches so far this season is 780 – and away from the glare of publicity.

The same could certainly not be said for Nwaneri’s Arsenal debut. The match against Brentford had been over as a contest since the early stages of the second half and he was brought on with just seconds remaining. But rather than being far from the madding crowds as Atherton’s was, Nwaneri’s took place in front of a stadium of just over 17,000 fans and in the full knowledge that millions more people around the world may be watching. It’s a different magnitude of pressure.

These are both presented as good news stories, and for the players concerned they certainly are. It is to be hoped that both enjoy long and successful careers in the game. But it is also somewhat jarring to see…