11 months ago
143 Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been putting his players through their paces ahead of their Premier League meeting with Liverpool on Saturday.
The Gunners head to Anfield for a 5:30pm kickoff, hoping to overcome Jurgen Klopp’s Reds in a huge pre-Christmas top-of-the-table clash.
On Friday, Arsenal’s media team published photos of their players in training. One of Hale End’s standout talents once again featured in the London Colney session.
The player in question is Ethan Nwaneri, who has often been featuring in first-team training and is one of the top youngsters at Arsenal, without a doubt.
The 16-year-old became the youngest player to feature in a Premier League game in the history of the competition last season.
Nwaneri made a late cameo in the top-flight win over Brentford in September 2022, aged 15 years and 181 days.
That remains his only Arsenal appearance at senior level, but he has certainly kicked on since then, shining at youth level.
Arsenal need to send Ethan Nwaneri out on loan in January – TBR View
Earlier in December, Nwaneri featured in an FA Youth Cup tie against Crewe Alexandra and scored five goals en route to a 7-1 win.
And at Premier League 2 level, he has four goals and two assists from just five appearances. This is remarkable for a 16-year-old playing at Under-21 level.
Jack Wilshere previously said Nwaneri is “unplayable“, Rio Ferdinand suggested he was as talented as Phil Foden, and scout Tor-Kristian Karlsen deemed him a “world-class prospect“.
Nwaneri is clearly a cut above at youth level. The next step for him really should be a loan switch to an EFL side in January. In fact, this is a must for Arteta.
The one thing you don’t want to happen if that Nwaneri decides to try his luck elsewhere, another club comes in for him, and Arsenal lose a potential future first-team star.
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