Arsenal wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri has long looked like a player with a huge future at the club, and it’s increasingly clear he’s too good to still be playing at youth level as he’s quite obviously a level above most of his peers in that age group.
The 16-year-old midfielder became the youngest player in Premier League history last season when he made an appearance off the bench against Brentford, and it surely won’t be too long before we see him again in the first-team fold.
Nwaneri is also highly regarded outside of Arsenal, as The Athletic reported on Chelsea and Manchester City being interested in signing him during the summer.
The teenager ended up staying at Arsenal, and now he’s managed a remarkable five-goal haul against Crewe in last night’s FA Youth Cup game…
16-year-old Ethan Nwaneri scored FIVE goals as the Arsenal U18s beat Crewe Alexandra 7-1 in the FA Youth Cup this evening. ? #afc pic.twitter.com/qC0QeOeDcR
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) December 9, 2023
Arsenal fans will be excited about Nwaneri’s development, but it remains to be seen when he can finally get that first-team breakthrough as there’s so much competition in Mikel Arteta’s squad.
The Gunners might perhaps do well to loan Nwaneri out soon, but it also remains to be seen if there’d be many clubs willing to take a gamble on giving a lot of playing time to one so young and inexperienced.