Mikel Arteta and Arsenal were genuinely really scared about ‘brilliant’ player earlier this summer

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Arsenal are preparing for their opening pre-season fixture of the campaign as they take on AC Milan in Singapore.

Arsenal’s 30-man squad have arrived in Asia and Mikel Arteta will be looking to use the tour to give valuable minutes to his first-team stars, whilst blooding some youngsters into the action.

Hale End duo Max Dowman and Marli Salmon have travelled with the squad and will be eager to make their mark should the 15-year-olds be given the opportunity.

Arsenal are keen to secure the futures of Dowman and Salmon at the earliest opportunity, especially after the scare they have been given this summer.

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta has come to a conclusion about Noni Madueke after looking at his underlying stats

Arsenal ‘feared’ losing Ethan Nwaneri during contract negotiations

According to journalist Sam Dean, speaking on the latest episode of the Arsenal podcast ‘Latte Firm’, the Gunners had genuine fear that they would lose Ethan Nwaneri this summer.

Nwaneri has agreed a new contract with the club and the official announcement is expected imminently but it comes after intense talks over the last few months.

Dean stated: “There was not a demand of game time in Ethan Nwaneri’s contract negotiations. I do know though, there was a bit of concern at some point this summer within Arsenal that talks weren’t going particularly well, there was a real fear.”

Fans are impressed with Nwaneri’s return to pre-season after the youngster appears to have ‘bulked up’ over the summer months and is now set to play a key role this season under Arteta.

Andrea Berta will be delighted to have secured yet another long-term contract, having already tied down Gabriel Magalhaes and Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Borussia Dortmund were interested in Nwaneri but the club have managed to convince him that North London is where his career belongs and they will be breathing a huge sigh of relief that they managed to do so.

Where could Ethan Nwaneri feature for Arsenal this season?

Nwaneri had an outstanding breakthrough season in senior football having made 37 appearances across all competitions for the Gunners in the 2024-25 campaign.

His 11 goal contributions show that he wants to be involved in the decisive moments in the match but spent most of his time playing from the right flank in Bukayo Saka’s absence.

With Saka coming back into the side, it appears that Arteta is eyeing up a more central role for Nwaneri and he could be about to compete with Martin Odegaard for the number 10 position.

Another role that has been touted for the 18-year-old is playing as a number eight but having the freedom to arrive late in the box.

Whatever the future holds for Nwaneri next season, it will be another campaign of learning his trade and learning from the senior players around him as he looks to further make his mark on the game.