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Jermain Defoe says what he noticed when he coached against Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri at academy level
Ethan Nwaneri looks to be one of the brightest young talents in the Premier League right now.
At the age of just 17, Nwaneri is already one of Arsenal’s best players, and this rise has been telegraphed for quite some time.
Indeed, the midfielder made his Premier League debut at the age of just 15, and Nwaneri has been tipped for big things for a long time.
Speaking on , Jermain Defoe has been discussing Ethan Nwaneri and his mercurial talent.
Defoe actually coached against Nwaneri a few years ago when he was part of the Tottenham set-up.
Defoe is a promising coach, and one day, Defoe wants to become Tottenham manager.
The former striker cut his teeth at academy level, and he says that even in the U18s he could tell that Nwaneri was a Premier League player in the making.

Ethan Nwaneri was incredible at academy level
Defoe spoke about Nwaneri when he saw him at U18 level.
The pundit has an eye for young talents – Defoe spotted Mikey Moore when he was just 15, and he says that when he saw Nwaneri at that level he was blown away.
“Just fearless, just fearless. Players coming into teams now are just fearless. At academy level we played against him, when I was at Tottenham in the academy in the U18s, he was obviously younger,” Defoe said.
“You could just tell straight away, the levels, you knew he was a Premier League footballer, you knew he would get into the Arsenal first-team and that, he’s a brilliant player.”
Ethan Nwaneri record vs Tottenham U18s
Defoe says he was impressed by Nwaneri at U18 level, and it’s not hard to understand why.
Indeed, Nwaneri was a real pain in the neck for Tottenham at U18 level.
The teenager has played against Spurs’ youth sides twice in his career, and he has a goal and an assist to his name.
Games | Goals | Assists | |
---|---|---|---|
Ethan Nwaneri record vs Tottenham U18s | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Nwaneri is making waves at Premier League level right now, but the scary thing is that Nwaneri is still eligible to play for the Arsenal U18s.
Indeed, at the age of just 17, Nwaneri could still actually play at youth level, and that’s a testament to just how good this young man is for his age.
Nwaneri is a top player already, and at the age of just 17, the sky is the limit for this young man.
The future is incredibly bright for Arsenal, especially as Myles Lewis-Skelly also looks like a superstar.