Ethan Nwaneri is in contention to feature for Arsenal when they face Tottenham Hotspur.
The first North London Derby of the season is scheduled to take place on Sunday, and it is a massive game for both clubs.
Spurs will fancy their chances because as many as seven Arsenal players could be ruled out of the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Martin Odegaard has suffered an ankle injury, and the Norwegian will likely be the biggest miss for the Gunners. However, that could open the door for Nwaneri.
Mikel Arteta hails Ethan Nwaneri’s maturity ahead of Tottenham vs Arsenal
Nwaneri is one of the biggest talents Arsenal’s academy has produced in recent years.
The versatile attacker, still only 17 years old, broke the Premier League record by becoming the youngest player to make an appearance in the history of the competition.
There’s real excitement at Arsenal around Nwaneri, who had a really impressive pre-season tour of the United States earlier this summer.
Now, with Odegaard injured, Nwaneri could be an option for Arsenal against Tottenham in the North London Derby on Sunday.
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Arteta, as he always does, kept his cards close to his chest when asked about the teenager playing against Spurs, but he admitted that he has seen ‘huge development’ in Nwaneri with respect to his maturity and understanding of the game.
He said, as per The Standard: “Huge development! I think big credit to everybody working in the academy, the coaches starting with Jack (Wilshere), Mehmet (Ali), all the coaches around him, Per (Mertesacker), that have prepared the player to be in the right position right now to shine and be prepared for the different context, and obviously the demands that he is going to be facing right now.
“He’s been doing really well, physically very mature, personally really mature, his game understanding has improved a lot. And then let him do. He has an enormous quality, a lot of talent and he needs the space to shine.”
When asked if Nwaneri could play a part in the derby, Arteta said in the live section of his press conference, as relayed on HaytersTV: “The young kids have given us a lot of hope and a lot of right reasons as well to count on them.
“If we need to, we will do it, for sure.”
Should Nwaneri start vs Tottenham in the North London Derby?
Odegaard’s absence is a significant blow for Arsenal ahead of what will likely be their toughest test of the 2024/25 season so far.
The Norwegian is the man who usually runs the show for the Gunners, but Arteta will have to find someone else to do it on Sunday.
Nwaneri is definitely an option, and for the reasons Arteta mentioned above, he has the quality to have a positive impact in the game.
However, throwing a 17-year-old into a high-pressure North London Derby away from home just seems a bit too risky for us.
We’d rather see Nwaneri come off the bench against Tottenham than start on Sunday.