This week saw further proof that Ethan Nwaneri could be another brilliant homegrown talent to emerge from Arsenal’s academy.
The 17-year-old didn’t disappoint in the Carabao Cup win over Bolton Wanderers where he scored two goals in a 5-1 romp for the North Londoners.
Such is the way of football these days, that supporters are more than keen for their club to unearth the ‘next big thing,’ and there certainly appears to be that kind of hype swirling around Nwaneri.
Arsenal legend Paul Merson has tried to temper Nwaneri expectations
With Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, understood to value the club’s academy very highly, it would be a real success story to see a player who joined the club at eight years of age making it all the way to the first team – and to have done so on merit.
It would also be easy to get carried away on that crest of a wave of hope and optimism, but in many respects that only heaps more pressure on Nwaneri’s young shoulders.
He remains the Premier League’s youngest player at 15 years of age, but he didn’t actually come on in the game against Brentford in September 2022 until the 92nd minute.
A cooling down on expectation might not be such a bad thing for all concerned, and Arsenal legend Paul Merson is one that doesn’t appear to be buying into the hype at the moment.
Whilst he acknowledged to Sky Sports that Nwaneri was “a special talent,” he preferred not to expand further on that and simply added that the youngster “needs to be patient.”
As can be seen with Lamine Yamal at Barcelona, who is the same age as Nwaneri, the weight of expectation can very quickly be placed on such young shoulders and it takes a very strong personality indeed not to buckle.
There has been a lot of patience already. It’s time for him to play. He’s being integrated gradually like all the others. The manager is aware.