Chelsea and Manchester City are reportedly looking to prize Ethan Nwaneri away from Arsenal, with the teenager in danger of leaving north London.
According to the Evening Standard, the Premier League duo are eager to recruit the 16-year-old winger with Nwaneri’s schoolboy registration with Arsenal set to expire this Friday, with Chelsea and City willing to make big offers for the youngster.
Lauded by One Football as a ‘generational talent’, Nwaneri last season became the youngest player ever to feature in a Premier League match at 15-years-old, and Arsenal are keen to keep the England youth international around, with an offer on the table from the Gunners.
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However, there’s no guarantees that Arsenal will keep hold of Nwaneri, and offers from Chelsea and City, who are known to award big contracts to academy players, could easily tempt the teenager away from his boyhood club and to a direct rival.
Indeed, Chelsea pulled a similar stunt last summer with Omari Hutchinson. And with the attacker barely kicking a ball for the Blues senior team in the previous campaign, Nwaneri should already be aware of the pitfalls that lay ahead of him if he is to leave Arsenal.
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Arsenal have to do all they legally can to keep Nwaneri around
Nwaneri is arguably the biggest talent to come through at Arsenal since Bukayo Saka, and with the 16-year-old already featuring for the Gunners in the Premier League, it’s hard to imagine how the teenager thinks his career will improve if he was to join a Chelsea or a City.
As we know, Arsenal under Mikel Arteta are committed to bringing through youth and giving them real chances in the senior team if they’re ready. And for Nwaneri, being handed a Premier League debut at 15 doesn’t come much bigger than that, with the Gunners aware of what the youngster needs to hit his potential.