Former Manchester United defender and pundit Rio Ferdinand has compared Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri to Manchester City and England star Phil Foden. It comes after the Hale End academy player was handed his Premier League debut against Brentford on Sunday in an injury time substitution.
The 15-year-old broke the record for the youngest player to ever feature in both the Premier League and the old Division One, suggesting just how much talent he has. His first appearance came after a number of injuries plagued the squad, however boss Mikel Arteta gave his reasons for handing him that opportunity.
"It was a pure gut feeling," Arteta said on his inclusion in the team. "I met the boy [and] really liked what I saw. Per Mertesacker and the academy staff are giving me really good information, Edu as well. I met him, he’s trained a couple of times with us.
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"Yesterday he had to come because we have injuries, especially the injury of Martin (Odegaard), and then I had that feeling from yesterday that if the opportunity could come that I was going to do it and I just done it."
While it's a breakthrough first step for Nwaneri in his pursuit of a professional career, there may still be a long path of development ahead of him before there are regular senior minutes on the cards. Despite that, he is still being backed for big things, with Ferdinand comparing him to Foden.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said: "There’s no doubting this kid’s ability, I’ve heard from coaches that are at the club and from various different people in the game at that level that there aren’t many 15-year-olds in the last 10 or so years that have got the ability that this guy’s shown on a consistent basis. We are talking the Fodens of this world. At 15, he’s at a similar level they’re talking."
It remains to be seen if the youngster can get near the heights of Foden, who is only just at the start of his career too. However, there could be a clear pathway to do so at Arsenal, with the latest appearance one of potentially many in the future.
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