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Ethan Nwaneri says he genuinely studies one ‘unbelievable’ Arsenal player all the time
Ethan Nwaneri is undoubtedly one of the most gifted youngsters in the Premier League.
Integrated into Arsenal’s first-team this season, Nwaneri has looked unfazed playing at the senior level.
So much so that the teenager is one of the only two players under the age of 18 to have scored five or more goals in Europe alongside Barcelona phenomenon Lamine Yamal.
Martin Odegaard revealed Arsenal rate Nwaneri highly instead of just viewing him as a bright young talent — which goes to show the respect he already commands.
Odegaard is not the only senior figure at the Emirates Stadium to sing the 17-year-old’s praises, with Leandro Trossard labelling Nwaneri as an “amazing player” as well.
Ethan Nwaneri says he analyses Bukayo Saka’s game
The Arsenal wonderkid seems to be heading in the same trajectory as Bukayo Saka, who also started his career for the North Londoners as a mere highly-talented prospect.
But nowadays, Saka, described as “unbelievable” by Alan Shearer is one of the best forwards in Europe.
Speaking of Saka, Nwaneri told the Premier League’s official YouTube channel that he studies his game.
“Yeah, 100 per cent. Coming in on his left foot, I try and see the different things he tries to do, the crosses, the shots that he takes, I try and add it to my game because I find myself in similar positions a lot.”
“There’s a lot of things that I can take and I’m trying to take and add them to mine.”
Nwaneri was asked the one feature of Saka’s he would love to add to his game and he instantly mentioned the latter’s unpredictability.
“I think his unpredictability, his ability to go down the right and the left, that’s something that I want to try to take.”
“We talk quite a lot, like if I see him at breakfast, talk about his past experienced when he was just breaking through the team, all the stuff that he went through and all the good and all the bad so I think that definitely helps me and it makes me feel good about myself that someone else has gone through this and look at the level he’s gone to.”
Saka, recently lauded by Jeremie Frimpong is certainly a nightmare for any defender to come up against, despite his game no longer being a mystery to any player or any team in the world. Yet Saka, who is currently out injured continues to wreak havoc and Nwaneri would be hoping to become just as dangerous.
Ethan Nwaneri compared to Bukayo Saka at 17
What will excite Mikel Arteta is that before Saka turned 18, he was not as established as Nwaneri is.
| ARSENAL STATS | SAKA BEFORE TURNING 18 | NWANERI BEFORE TURNING 18 |
| APPEARANACES | 4 | 16 |
| GOALS | 0 | 7 |
| ASSISTS | 0 | 3 |
While the former had just made four appearances for Arsenal, the latter already has seven goals and three assists while playing 12 more matches.
Paul Merson dubbed Nwaneri an “amazing player” and rightfully so as he is slowly but surely becoming an important player for Arsenal already.
As long as Nwaneri continues studying Saka’s game as well how he takes care of himself off the pitch, Arsenal can feel extremely confident about him becoming a superstar in the same vein as well.