Nigerian born Arsenal wonderkid, Ethan Nwaneri, made history on Sunday when he became the youngest player ever to play in the English Premier League after coming off the bench for Fabio Vieira in a 3-0 win against Brentford at just 15 years and 181 days old.
The teenager became the Premier League’s youngest player, beating Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott who previously held the record when he made his premier league debut for Fulham in 2019 at age 16 years, 30 days. He has also surpassed former Arsenal Captain Cesc Fabregas as the club’s youngest player ever to play for the club.
The youngster who was not even born yet when Arsenal Emirate stadium was opened in 2006 is the first player ever to make a Premier league appearance before the age of 16.
Congratulating him on the milestone, the club on its official Twitter handle @Arsenal stated, “15 years and 181 days. The youngest player in Premier League history. Congratulations, Ethan Nwaneri @ArsenalAcademy.”
But who is Ethan Nwaneri?
Nwaneri is an English attacking midfielder born to Nigerian parents on March 21, 2007.
He joined Arsenal when he was 9 years old and has made several appearances for the Arsenal Under-18s team, scoring a debut goal against Reading under-18 team when he was 14.
The youngster has represented England Under 16 and 17 teams respectively, making his debut for England under 16 team when he was only 14.
On 8 August, he scored in a 3-0 win against Faroe Island after coming on as a substitute for England in an Under-17s game.
Nwaneri started this season playing for the Arsenal under 18 team, but his form quickly earned him a promotion to the under 21 team. He has so far recorded four goals and four assists while representing the Arsenal under-18 and under-21 teams this season.
His sterling performance for the under-21 team coupled with injuries to captain Martin Odegaard and Oleksandr Zinchenko which had left Arteta short of midfield options against Brentford, earned him a call to the first team.
While explaining the reason he gave the young lad premier league debut at 15, Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta said “It was a pure gut feeling. I met the boy, I liked what I saw. He trained with us a couple of times. I had that feeling yesterday that if the opportunity could come, I would do it. He deserves it.”
Although Nwaneri has represented England at both under 16 and under 17 levels, he remains a prospect for the Nigerian national team. Being born to Nigerian parents means he is still eligible to represent the Super Eagles of Nigeria sometime in future.
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