Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits it is becoming difficult to resist the temptation to throw teenage hot-shot Ethan Nwaneri into the title race.
The 17-year-old became Arsenal’s second-youngest Premier League goal-scorer when he climbed off the bench to hit the third in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
The youngest, Cesc Fabregas, went on to do pretty well, winning the FA Cup with the Gunners, two Premier League titles at Chelsea as well as becoming a European and world champion with Spain.
This team ❤️ pic.twitter.com/zTGaBMjVFz
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 23, 2024
Nwaneri became the youngest player in Premier League history when he came on during Arsenal’s 3-0 win at Brentford in September 2022, aged just 15 years and 181 days.
But he is still yet to start a top-flight match and Saturday’s cameo was only his seventh appearance in the league since his debut more than two years ago.
Arteta insists he will continue to tread carefully with the exciting youngster, who does not turn 18 until March.
“I am always tempted,” said Arteta. “I think he’s the second-youngest player for the club to score in the Premier League.
“It’s giving us all the reasons and this is another reason to put him there, but that’s when I play him and not somebody else. It’s step-by-step, I would say.
“Something I cannot do myself is manage expectations. I will try to educate him, raise him and give him the pathway that we believe is the best.
“His family, his agent, his friends, they will be very important as well. Don’t listen too much to the noise, focus on what he does which is to play football and he loves every minute of it and good things will happen to him for sure.”
Bukayo Saka scored Arsenal’s opener and teed up Thomas Partey for the second before Nwaneri took a pass from Raheem Sterling – himself a former teenage prodigy – to open his Premier League account.
The routine victory may have reignited Arsenal’s title challenge after four matches without a win.
It was a second straight defeat for Forest, who had begun the day level on points with the Gunners.
“We have to recognise we have conceded six goals in two games so we should be worried,” said boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
“We have to get back to being compact, solid and not giving too much time to individual players with such quality.”
