Rio Ferdinand has admitted that Arsenal teenager Ethan Nwaneri reminds him of Phil Foden when he was bursting through the ranks at Manchester City.
The 15-year-old became the youngest-ever Premier League player on Sunday at just 15 years and 180 days old, breaking the previous record of Harvey Elliott back in 2019. He came on for the final few minutes of the Gunners' 3-0 win over Brentford, with Nwaneri replacing goalscorer Fabio Viera.
There has been some criticism thrown at Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for handing Nwaneri his debut at such a young age, however, with Danny Murphy, Jason Cundy and Danny Mills all slamming the Spaniard's decision. Nwaneri tops the list for the youngest Premier League players, with Matthew Briggs, Izzy Brown and Aaron Lennon making up the top-five, while Jack Wilshere is possibly the biggest name inside the top 10.
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. But when speaking about Nwaneri and the criticism Arsenal have faced, Ferdinand has praised the decision and believes he is in a similar mould to England star Foden.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand 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 Foden's of this world. At 15, he’s at a similar level they’re talking."
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Meanwhile, former Liverpool midfielder Murphy doesn't think it was the right decision by Arteta and explained how he might've handled the situation better on another day. He claimed that Arteta probably made that decision to keep the talented midfielder "happy".
He told talkSPORT: "I am not convinced it is the best move for a young player, I am really not. I have seen superstars come on the scene at a young age and thrive and go on and carry on, but there has also been a lot who have fallen by the wayside.
"He is obviously a super talent, doing well in training and impressing everybody, but surely they have got other 18, 19 and 20-year-olds who are further ahead in their development who could have gone on the bench. I think he is probably trying to keep a young superstar happy."
Arteta explained why Nwaneri was brought on after the game and says it was all down to instinct. He said: "It was a pure gut feeling. 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. Yesterday (Saturday) 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."
