According to a report from The Secret Scout, Arsenal’s youngster Ethan Nwaneri could have a major decision to make this summer with Manchester City and Chelsea showing interest in signing the 15-year-old academy player.
As you may remember, Ethan Nwaneri made his debut earlier in the season against Brentford, when he was used as a late substitute. He became a Premier League history maker as the youngest player to register an appearance being just 15 years and 181 days old.
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His five minutes under the spotlights were enough to grab the attention of the league’s heavyweights & this comes as no surprise, as Per Mertesacker, in charge of the Arsenal academy, made Mikel Arteta aware of his potential…
“The first day I met him I looked him in his eyes, and everyone was telling me about him, Per [Mertesacker] was telling me about him, and because of the injuries we only have 12 or 13 senior players yesterday to put in the squad and we decided to bring him, and that’s it.”
– Mikel Arteta after the Brentford game.
Nwaneri, because of his age is yet to sign a professional contract with the club, as by current rules a player can not sign a professional contract before his 17th birthday. Interest from such big clubs at such a tender age must be tempting, but such decision is never easy to make.
Even though Arsenal have a lot of academy players in their first team, and a couple of them having great loan spells, it’s still no guarantee that there will be room for Nwaneri in a few years’ time.
Under the ownership of Todd Boehly, Chelsea have been searching for young talents and giving them opportunities to showcase their potential and that could be a decisive factor for the player. Manchester City are in a position where they can attract talent and use their City Football Group to give young players time and prepare them for the big stage.
But Arsenal will not go down without a fight, and maybe they already have just what Nwaneri needs right now. A few words from the team’s current captain could make him stay and fight for his position. Martin Ødegaard knows best what it is like to arrive at a massive club as a teenager, with him signing for Real Madrid at the age of 16.
We will have to wait and see if these rumours are true, but it sure speaks volumes about a player’s quality when such big clubs are being mentioned.
Would you like for Ethan Nwaneri to stay? What do you think would be the perfect option for him right now?
