Arsenal face losing wonderkid to Man Utd or Chelsea for FREE

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 22 May 2023 09:41 BST
• 4 min read

Arsenal face a battle to retain the services of midfield prospect Ethan Nwaneri, according to a report in the Athletic, which states that Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are all seeking to raid the Hale End star.

To make matters worse for Mikel Arteta’s side, Nwaneri would leave as a free agent this summer because his schoolboy registration expires in June. The Gunners would receive only nominal compensation for him.

The report goes on to state that Arsenal have not given up hope of giving the 16-year-old professional terms. Talks have taken place between the club and the player, but no formal decision has been made.

PROFILE: Who is Ethan Nwaneri? Arsenal's midfield prodigy

Nwaneri has been making headlines for all the right reasons this season, despite his young age.

He became the youngest player in Premier League history in September, when he was given a minute off the bench in a 3-0 win at Brentford as a 15-year-old, and though he has not featured for the first team since, even as an unused substitute, his progress has been steady.

MORE: What happened to the Premier League's other youngest stars?

Arteta on Nwaneri

Speaking after giving the teenager his debut against Brentford, Mikel Arteta said: “The first day I met him I looked him in his eyes and everyone was telling me about him, Per was telling me about him, and because of the injuries we only have 12 or 13 senior players yesterday to put in the squad and we decided to bring him, and that’s it.

“It’s one step, one experience, so enjoy it and congratulations!

“It’s just one step and all the steps in your career are not forward and you have to know that. You can go forward then backwards and then forwards. You fall, you go back - that’s, unfortunately, this industry and the football career of any player.”

Nwaneri has featured in both the Premier League 2 and the U18 Premier League, scoring four goals and creating three more in 10 appearances in the latter competition.

He has also sparkled on international duty. With England U17, he scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Croatia in the European Championship at his age group, which is currently ongoing, and he was a member of the team that defeated the Netherlands 4-1 in the subsequent fixture.

Now the challenge for Arteta is to make Nwaneri believe that Arsenal offer him the best pathway to regular first-team football. Potentially high-value bids from Man Utd, Chelsea and City, though, will make that tricky.

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