Arteta Keep An Eye On The Developments Of Ethan Nwaneri At Arsenal

Arsenal will face leaders of the Premier League, Liverpool (Instagram/@arsenal).

JAKARTA - Premier League club coach Arsenal Mikel Arteta is closely monitoring the development of his young midfielder, Ethan Nwaneri, who is only 17 years old, so that his player is not burdened with expectations.

"I am responsible for him. It is very important for us to set expectations and burdens for him," Arteta said as quoted from Arsenal's website via Antara, Jakarta, Sunday, November 24.

Ethan Nwaneri impressed when Arsenal defeated Nottingham Forest with a score of 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium, London, Saturday (23/11).

In that match, Nwaneri, who came in to replace Martin Odegaard in the 82nd minute, scored one goal. His goal made Ethan Arsenal's second youngest goal scorer in the Premier League aged 17 years and 247 days. He was under Cesc Fabregas who set the record at 17 years 113 days.

Thus, in the 2024-2025 season, Nwaneri has scored four goals for Arsenal from nine matches in all competitions. Previously, he had scored three goals in the League Cup.

Seeing these achievements, Mikel Arteta admitted that he was tempted to always field Ethan in many matches, but that he would not do it gradually.

The Spanish tactician likened the formation of the quality of Ethan Nwaneri to making bricks.

"Today (against Notingham Forrest-ed) he has compiled a brick. Then we will give cement on it. So that the cement doesn't dry, later we will hit him again with bricks and so on," said Arteta.

Arteta pun ingin Ethan Nwaneri menjaga fokusnya di sepak bola dan tidak mendengar "silara-sumbang" dari luar.

He promised to educate, care for and give Ethan the right way to become a top footballer.

"It must also be done by the family, agents and friends who have a lot of effect on its development (Ethan Nwaneri-ed)," said Arteta.

Ethan Nwaneri himself joined Arsenal's academy since he was eight years old.

Seven years later, Ethan Nwaneri was able to break into Arsenal's first team, to be precise when Arsenal faced Brentford in the Premier League in September 2022.

Ethan also became the youngest player to compete in the Premier League, when he was 15 years and 181 days old, also became the youngest player Arsenal to play in the league.