Arteta: It´s up to Nwaneri how quickly he becomes a first-team regular

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says that it is up to young midfielder Ethan Nwaneri to dictate how quickly he will become a regular in their first team.

That was after the 17-year-old midfielder played a starring role in his side’s 3-0 victory away to Preston North End in the last 16 of the EFL Cup, curling in a wonderful effort for the second.

Nwaneri scored his first senior goals with a brace in the 5-1 win over League One Bolton in the previous round and looked in great shape again on Wednesday.

“He’s a big talent, he’s got the right attitude and he’s got the right players and context around him,” Arteta told BBC Sport.

“We need to make sure that we build brick by brick in the right tempo, in the right order, but we have some player there.”

Our Player of the Match last night…

One of our own, Ethan Nwaneri pic.twitter.com/RSmuWSSgX6

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 31, 2024

Nwaneri has already made four substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, having come off the bench against Tottenham, Leicester, Bournemouth and Liverpool.

In September 2022, meanwhile, he became the youngest player in history to feature in the Premier League after coming off the bench against Brentford at just 15 years and 181 days.

According to his manager, the pace of his further development will be down to him.

“He’s going to really dictate how fast that’s going to go, but I’m really happy with him,” Arteta added.

“There’s so much personality there. He wants to impose himself, he wants every ball, he wants to make things happen.

“He’s very respectful, his work ethic is tremendous and he loves what he does, you can tell that. I think he is showing every day what he is capable of.

“You see his team-mates, they are giving him the ball all the time, that’s a great sign. So we have some player there.”