Wednesday night couldn’t have gone much better from an Arsenal perspective. Mikel Arteta was able to hand out four first team debuts, get minutes into the legs of players like Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus, and introduce Raheem Sterling to the Emirates Stadium crowd in a convincing 5-1 over Bolton. The highlight of the night though, was the performance of Ethan Nwaneri.
On his first start for Arsenal the 17-year-old grabbed not one, but two goals. His second in particular was proof that he felt confident on the big stage as he neglected the chance to pass to Declan Rice or Bukayo Saka to take a shot on himself and score. “I was really happy for him that he scored because I know the reaction of his teammates if he didn’t,” Arteta joked.
It was the perfect night for the Hale Ender who admitted that he is hoping for more in the future. “It’s a great feeling when the club you love, the club you’ve grown up with the fans are chanting that,” he said. “So yeah, it’s a good feeling. It’s a surreal feeling. It’s a feeling I’ve wanted to feel for almost 16 years of my life so to actually feel it, it’s crazy. [I] just want more of it.”
Arteta seemed to suggest in his post-match press conference that Nwaneri may not have to wait too long for his wishes to be fulfilled. “I think it’s ahead of what anybody could expect,” the Spaniard said. “I think since in his journey with the first team, he’s always ahead of what everybody expected. I expected it as well. He deserves that and he’s part of us, so he will have the minutes.”
Could those minutes come as soon as Saturday though?
Thus far in away games against Tottenham and Manchester City, Arteta has shared the burden between Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard. Trossard is available again for Saturday after serving a one match suspension for his controversial red card at the Etihad Stadium, but Arteta may be inclined to try something different against less challenging opposition at home.
If he does feel like taking the plunge, then this does feel like the perfect game for Nwaneri to make his first Premier League start. Leicester are yet to win this season, and Arsenal will be heavy favourites to pick up three points. With Odegaard out for a while, this could be Nwaneri’s chance to step up and prove that he’s capable of stepping into the Gunners captain’s shoes even at such a young age.
If he does come in in the right eight position, this, in turn, would allow Havertz to push back up the centre forward position. The German has 10 goals and seven assists in the 17 appearances since he switched to the position late last season. The Arsenal attack has generally tended to look more fluid with Havertz in the nine too, so perhaps bringing Nwaneri into the deeper role could benefit the team as a whole.
Leave a Reply