Arsenal talent Ethan Nwaneri made his Premier League debut against Brentford before the international break sparking a mixed reaction from pundits.
Mikel Arteta took the decision to hand the 15-year-old his professional debut after bringing Nwaneri off the bench in the 3-0 win against the Bees. The talented youngster became the youngest player to ever play in the Premier League after he replaced Gunners' summer signing Fabio Vieira late into the game.
Nwaneri is the latest Hale End graduate to make their first senior team appearance, following in the footsteps of Gunners' superstar Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe. Some pundits were full of praise for Arteta after he handed Nwaneri the chance to perform in the first team whilst others criticised the Spaniard for his decision with Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea all thought to be monitoring the youngster's situation at the Emirates Stadium.
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Former Liverpool and England winger John Barnes believes Arteta's decision to bring on Nwaneri wasn't a 'gimmick' but doesn't think the 15-year-old will be the next Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Speaking to BonusCodeBets, Barnes said:" If you look at the future, the future looks bright for Arsenal in terms of a lot of the young players. Saka, you know, Martinelli, Odegaard.
"They’ve got a good, young team. But a 15 year old being given his debut? You should leave him alone because of course, Theo Walcott made his debut at 16 and this young boy coming in is not going to be anywhere near Arsenal’s first team to be honest with you, when push comes to shove."
There have been examples in the past where talented youngsters have been drafted into the senior team at a young age before being hampered later on in their career, as shown with Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott. Barnes continued: “It’s great for Arsenal to say we’ve got good young players coming through.
"But all of a sudden, I don’t want people to then put so much pressure on this young boy because he made his debut to say he should be playing all the time. It’s great for him and great for Arsenal for the future.
"I’m not saying it’s a gimmick because he’s good enough to obviously be playing but I don’t think it’s a situation whereby you’re looking at a Lionel Messi at 16 or Cristiano Ronaldo knowing that he’s going to go in the team and play every week. So it’s good news at Arsenal pushing their youngsters through but I don’t want to put pressure on this young boy and all of a sudden overemphasise that he should be playing this season or even next season.”
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