It’s a great time to be an Arsenal fan at the moment, as while things looked bleak just a few weeks ago, the Gunners are now level on points with Manchester City, having already played them, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur away in the Premier League.
Not only that, but Mikel Arteta’s side came away from their tricky trip to Atalanta with a point in hand and then dominated Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup with a heavily rotated lineup.
However, just because it had eight changes does not mean it was a weak side, as it was full of tremendously exciting and talented Hale Enders, including Ethan Nwaneri.
The young midfielder looks destined to become the next sensational superstar to come out of the North Londoners academy, but another youngster who could be just as good is no longer at the club.
Nwaneri’s exciting rise
It’s been over two years since Nwaneri became the youngest Premier League player of all time against Brentford in 2022, and while he hasn’t featured in too many first-team games since then, he has been tearing it up in the academy.
For example, in his 52 appearances across the club’s various junior sides, the 17-year-old phenom has scored 27 goals and provided ten assists, meaning he’s averaging a goal involvement once every 1.40 games, which is frankly ridiculous for a midfield player.
However, he’s not just impressing with the youth sides. The Enfield-born ace made regular appearances during the club’s preseason tour of the US in the summer, and over the last few weeks, he has become increasingly involved in first-team action.
It was in the game against Bolton that the Hale Ender opened his account with the club, scoring a brace and coming painfully close to a hat-trick, but it’s in the league games that we can gain a better understanding of how highly the manager rates him.
For example, when the team were 1-0 up away to Spurs, he turned to the exciting prospect to inject some more life into the midfield, and when it looked like his side were going to drop points against Leicester City, he once again turned to the teenager, and while he didn’t score, he came very, very close to doing so.
Overall, while we are still a season or two away from seeing Nwaneri regularly making it into the starting lineup, it’s clear that he’s an exceptionally talented footballer and one destined for the very top, much like a youngster the club lost this summer.
Chido Obi Martin’s massive potential
Yes, the player who Arsenal lost during the summer is Danish youth international Chido Obi Martin.
Now, we say lost, as while it looks like the Gunners will be making some money on his move to Manchester United following the Premier League’s green light over the move late last week, there is no doubt that they would have rather kept him over making a few million pounds if that is what it ends up being.
The reason why? He has an incredible goal record and sky-high potential, scoring ten goals in one game for Arsenal U16s against Liverpool. Yes, ten goals. It’s easy to see why he was generating even more excitement than Nwaneri at times last season.
In 24 appearances across the Gunners’ U18 and U21 sides last season, the unreal “goalscoring machine”, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, found the back of the net 32 times and provided three assists for good measure.
That means that, despite still being just 16, the Glostrup-born gem maintained an average of a goal involvement once every 0.68 games, which explains why the North Londoners were so keen on keeping him.
Moreover, the 6 foot 2 poacher has also excelled at the international level, racking up 11 goals in 18 games for Denmark’s U17 side and one goal in two games for their U18 team.
Ultimately, Arsenal are blessed with the number of talented youngsters coming through the academy at the moment, Nwaneri chief among them, but the loss of Chido Obi is undeniably significant.
