Mikel Arteta has no doubt that ‘big talent’ Ethan Nwaneri is ready to make a breakthrough into the first team after a superb performance in Arsenal’s win at Preston on Wednesday night.
The Gunners beat the Championship side 3-0 at Deepdale with Gabriel Jesus opening the scoring, Kai Havertz completing it and Nwaneri scoring a peach of a second.
The midfielder is just 17 years old but has already featured four times in the Premier League this season and has helped Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Asked if the teenager is ready to force his way into the first team even more regularly, Arteta was clear, saying: ‘Certainly! If not he wouldn’t have played tonight, he wouldn’t have played three days ago against Liverpool.
‘He’s there. He’s showing every day what he’s capable of. You see his teammates, they give the ball all the time. That’s a great sign. We’ve got some player there.’
The youngster’s goal was a fabulous left-footed strike, curling the ball into the top corner from outside the penalty area, but Arteta revealed he saw the same finish from him just a day earlier.
‘He did it yesterday in training so we’re getting used to that,’ said the Spaniard. ‘He’s a big talent, he’s got the right attitude, he’s got the right players and context around him and we need to make sure that we put brick by brick. But we have some player there!’
On the personality of Nwaneri, Arteta added: ‘Well so much character 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.’
There was something of a surprise in the second half as Bukayo Saka came off the bench despite Arsenal being comfortably ahead, but Arteta said it was what the winger wanted to do.
‘Yeah because he’s in the rhythm and he has that exposure with us,’ said the boss. ‘He always says “once I’m here I prefer to have a few minutes”.
‘As well we wanted to protect Gabi [Martinelli] because he had quite a big impact in the first half so it worked quite well.’
Arsenal’s win at Preston books their spot in the last eight of the Carabao Cup where they will take on Crystal Palace at the Emirates.
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