Arsenal defeated Brentford 3-0 on Sunday to reclaim first place in the Premier League table and continue their incredible season. Mikel Arteta’s men were dealing with injuries to some of their key players ahead of the game, but they still managed to take all three points with a clinical performance away from home. Arteta handed out a special Premier League debut to talented young midfielder Ethan Nwaneri during the game as he became the youngest player to play in the Premier League. Nwaneri, 15, came on as a substitute in injury time to replace Fabio Vieira and set a new league record.
Who is Ethan Nwaneri?
At 15 years and 181 days, Nwaneri is the Premier League’s youngest player, breaking Harvey Elliott’s record, who made his Premier League debut for Fulham in 2019 at the age of 16 years and 30 days. Nwaneri progressed through Arsenal’s youth system and played for the club’s U-18 team before making his senior-team debut on Sunday.
Nwaneri, who is still in school, had to change on his own and was not permitted to do so with the rest of the Arsenal team on Sunday because he is still 15 years old. According to reports, Nawneri joined Arsenal’s academy at the age of nine and has since developed into a fantastic midfield prospect.
Nwaneri made his Arsenal U-18s debut at the age of 14 and scored his first goal against Reading. He is an attacking midfielder with pace and creativity going forward. Nwaneri is expected to join the likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe as a key member of Arsenal’s squad in the future.
Speaking about his talent, Arteta stated that he was very impressed by what he saw from Nwaneri in training and would like to give him his dream debut if the opportunity arose against Brentford.
“I met the boy, I really liked what I saw. He has trained a couple of times with us. And I had a feeling from yesterday that if the opportunity could come, I was going to do it. He deserves it and it sends a really strong message about who we are as a club,” Arteta said after Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Brentford.
“We want to give opportunities when there is talent, when there is personality and when there are players who love what they do so much, with no fear,” he added.
