Ethan Nwaneri: Arsenal’s 17-year-old goalscorer is an ‘extra special’ talent
Nwaneri came on as a late substitute and became the youngest player in Premier League history. Arsenal 3-0 Brentford In September 2022, he is only 15 years and 181 days old.
“School in the morning, he goes to school in the morning,” Arsenal fans sang at the time.
Tens of thousands of fans inside the Emirates Stadium sang “He’s one of our own, Ethan Nwaneri, he’s one of our own” after he scored on Saturday.
Fans have been clamoring for the teenager to get more game time after his impressive performance in the Carabao Cup and his stunning goal against Forest only added to the excitement.
This season he has scored 4 goals in 238 minutes of playing time, 170 of which were in the League Cup, 60 in the Premier League and 8 in the Champions League.
Nwaneri is one of only two under-18 players in Europe’s top five leagues to score more than once in all competitions this season, behind only 17-year-old Barcelona and Spanish phenom Lamine Yamal.
Arteta explains why he’s managing Nwaneri’s minutes “step by step” after the win over Forest.
“He gives us a reason to play all the games and another reason to play,” the Arsenal boss said.
“It’s my responsibility to build his career for him. You have to do it brick by brick. Today he laid another brick.”
“Now we have to put the cement in and make sure it doesn’t dry out so we can put another layer so it sticks. Then we put another layer and then another layer.
“If you want to play five games in a row, believe me, it’s not going to work. We have to manage not only his expectations but also his workload, which is very important.”
“You could feel how much the crowd loved watching this kid’s game and energy.”
