Mikel Arteta hailed Ethan Nwaneri as a “big talent” after he helped lead Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Nwaneri was the star of the show as the Gunners beat Preston 3-0 on Wednesday night to tee up an all-London home tie with Crystal Palace in the last eight, with the 17-year-old scoring Arsenal’s second goal at Deepdale.
The midfielder found the net with a brilliant strike from the edge of the box and Arteta revealed afterwards that the teenager did similar in training on Tuesday.
Nwaneri’s goal at Preston added to his two in the last round against Bolton and in scoring again he became the youngest player in Arsenal’s history to net in their first two starts for the club.
“He’s a big talent, he’s got the right attitude,” Arteta said. “He’s got the right players and context around him and we need to make sure that we put [him together] brick by brick. But we have some player there.
“He wants to make every ball, he wants to make things happen. Outside, around the boys, he’s still a bit quiet, but that’s usual. He’s still only 17 years old. His work ethic is tremendous and he loves what he does.
“He’s there. He’s showing every day what he’s capable of. You see his team-mates, they give the ball all the time. That’s a great sign.”
Nwaneri took his goal brilliantly against Preston, receiving the ball on the edge of the box with a deft touch before curling it into the top corner.
“He did it yesterday in training so we’re getting used to that,” said Arteta. “He’s going to really dictate how [his development] is gonna go. But I’m really, really happy with him.
“He’s got this quality, this personality. He’s there to make things happen. He doesn’t care who’s around him, if he needs to make the decision on his own he does it. He scored a fantastic goal tonight.
“We talked about that - play with enthusiasm in these games, play with the right attitude and commitment. We certainly showed that, so very happy to be in the quarter-finals.”
