Speaking on Arsenal’s YouTube channel, Per Mertesacker has been discussing Ethan Nwaneri after the 15-year-old’s groundbreaking Premier League debut.
The youngster became the youngest player in Premier League history when he came off the bench against Brentford a fortnight ago, and it’s fair to say that he’s a highly-rated prospect within the Gunners’ youth system.
Of course, the north London club’s youth system is headed up by Mertesacker these days, and the German has given Nwaneri a glowing review.
Mertesacker praises Nwaneri
The former centre-back was full of praise for the young player.
“Ethan has been a part of the pre-academy, he has been around football since he was five years old, then he came to our academy as an under nine,” Mertesacker said.
“It’s about knowing the boy, knowing the family, having close contacts. Especially with this example, it will test us but we’re ready for it and Ethan was on the pitch because he deserves it. He went through all of our age groups and ticks a lot of boxes. He played fabulous with the U18s and deserved to be training with the U21s. He’s a humble guy and he’s so focused and he’s now made the next step up.”
Have to strike a balance
It will be very interesting to see how Arsenal handle Nwaneri in the coming years.
He’s clearly an immensely talented young player, but the reality is that he may be 10 years from his peak.
They can’t make him a first-team regular too soon as the pressure may stunt his growth or injuries could set in a la Jack Wilshere.
However, now that he’s had a taste of the first-team, he will only want to play more and more, so they need to give him some minutes.
Arsenal could have a gem on their hands here, but they need to handle him correctly.
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