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England’s U19s took on Germany U19s in Croatia on Tuesday night. The Young Lions—they should be called Cubs or Kittens, let’s be real—are on a lovely little training camp in the sun, and this game against the die junge Mannschaft (we’ve made that name up) was a solid test for our lil kittens. More than a test, actually—the German kids won 3-2.
According to the match report on the official England site, though, it was a very close game and if what we’re about to show you is anything to go by, there are plenty of positives to take from it, not least the continued cosmic trajectory of Arsenal’s boy wonder Ethan Nwaneri.
Not long after the half-time break, Nwaneri picked up the ball just inside the penalty area on the right-hand side, squared up to the closest defender, chucked in a chop and a stepover and accelerated away from his marker.
Another German player comes to help his mate, but Nwaneri does a little Maradona/Zidane/Roulette Turn past him, and unleashes a curling shot from his favourite left foot.
To be fair, Timo Schlieck in the German goal makes a brilliant save to tip the Nwaneri’s shot over the bar. It was a sign of things to come, though, and Arsenal’s 17-year-old diamond in the rough got his goal not long after.
Great skill by Ethan Nwaneri to set himself up with a great chance vs Germany U19
byu/bigot777 inGunners
You’re already familiar with Ethan Nwaneri.
He became the youngest player ever to appear in the Premier League on 18th September 2022 when he replaced Fabio Vieira in stoppage time against Brentford. He was just 15 years and 181 days old. Fifteen-and-a-half. What were you doing when you were 15?
You know what we were doing? Straightening our hair, playing gigs at pubs in which people could still legally smoke, watching a whale swim up the Thames on the news, and wondering why on Earth the FA were offering Steve McClaren the job of England manager.
Ethan Nwaneri hadn’t yet been conceived, let alone born. What’s the point of anything? We digress.
Nwaneri was thrown right in at the deep end, but the Gunners have been a little more careful with him since then.
He made one further appearance for the first team, coming on as a 77th-minute sub in a 6-0 victory over West Ham in the Premier League, but Arsenal have quite rightly kept him out of the firing line until he is good and ready.
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However… Nwaneri scored 11 goals in 15 league appearances for Arsenal’s under-21s last season (despite only turning 17 in March).
The Gunners have a North London derby coming up on Sunday, and Martin Odegaard came back injured from an international break with Denmark.
Odegaard is comfortable in essentially all of the attacking positions but functions best as a number 10… Just like Ethan Nwaneri.
Now, Arsenal have options in midfield. Kai Havertz could drop back, with Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, or Leandro Trossard filling the central attacking role.
Some fans, though, think that the most natural change is to go as like-for-like as possible, and give Nwaneri his chance to shine in one of the Gunners’ biggest matches of the season.
It probably won’t happen, but it might, and if it does, it could be the making of a new superstar. Keep your eyes firmly fixed on Ethan Nwaneri — big things are coming.
By Andrew Martin