Ethan Nwaneri interview: What ‘intense' Arteta taught him at Arsenal and his highlight of 2024-25

New York Times

10-06-2025

One of the most invigorating subplots of Arsenal's 2024-25 was the rise of Ethan Nwaneri in his breakout season.
The midfielder made history on his Arsenal debut in September 2022, becoming the youngest ever Premier League players at 15 years and 181 days. He continued to impress last season, equalling John Radford's 62-year-old record for Arsenal goals before an 18th birthday (eight), becoming the youngest player to score in successive Champions League games, and becoming the third-youngest scorer in a Champions League knockout game behind Jude Bellingham and Bojan.
Advertisement
For all that, when asked for a standout moment from his breakout campaign, Nwaneri says: 'The goal against Man City.'
The 18-year-old is speaking at an England Under-21s media session ahead of their European Championship matches against Czechia and Slovenia this week. While that goal was not game-changing, as the fifth in a 5-1 win, it was one the midfielder was determined to score, calling for the switch for 14 seconds before it came, and once the ball reached his feet, he had one thing in mind: cut inside and bend it into the far corner.
'I knew I'd do something if I got the ball,' he says. 'Then Dec luckily saw me. You don't really think, you just do it. You think about it afterwards.
'(That finish comes) from a young age, practising in the park for ages. I've always been playing on the right more, so I've always kind of been cutting in on my left foot. So I've just developed over the years, it's really just come from me, naturally.'
Nwaneri ended the season with nine goals and two assists, notching another seven for England's youth teams along the way. Able to make an almost immediate impact in the Arsenal first team, the young man is still making strides in north London.
'There's a lot to learn from Mikel (Arteta),' he says of his club manager. 'If you ever met him, you'd see how intense he is. How he's so good with his words and he knows what he's saying. He's elevated my game, definitely. There's so much, not even just tactically but mentally too.
'On a personal level, he's helped me a lot. He's really big on body language and the way that he presents himself. He puts that onto me. Before, maybe the way that I'd walk or slouch a bit or just the way I'd be sitting, he's onto everything. That's helped me just sharpen up in my mind and it's helped me a lot.'
For what it's worth, Nwaneri is standing almost at attention during this interview. His shoulders are back, there's a smile on his face and he is assured in what he's saying. There is also a sense of realism that the past season did not just have a linear upward trajectory; they never do. He missed a few weeks in January with a muscle injury after his first Premier League starts, but also saw his minutes dwindle as the season drew to a close.
Advertisement
'Going from playing quite a lot to not playing as much is normal in football,' he says, 'So I don't really take it to heart. I understand Mikel's got a decision to make at the end of the day, and it's hard for him to make.
'He obviously wants to include everyone but he can't. But I think it's part of football and it's those times that can really define where you're going to be. I think I've dealt with it well. I'm in a good place mentally and physically.'
It helps that Nwaneri has one of his closest friends as a team-mate. Fellow academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly also broke through in 2024-25, going on to score on his full England debut. The pair made their first starts for the club together against Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup, with Lewis-Skelly involved in the build-up to Nwaneri's first Arsenal goal.
'My relationship and friendship with Myles is so important,' Nwaneri says. 'We're so similar but so opposite at the same time. We think the same way, but the way that we might portray it to other people, he might seem more open and I might seem more closed off. Our friendship is special.'
Arteta has stressed the importance of viewing Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly as individuals rather than constantly comparing them to one another. Having signed their first professional deals in the 2023-24 season, their existing contracts run until the end of next season, but Arsenal are in talks with both players over fresh terms.
Still just 18, Nwaneri is the youngest player in Lee Carsley's England Under-21 squad this summer by 18 months. Even so, he has gained experience at international youth tournaments in the past two years, featuring at two Under-17 European Championships and an Under-17 World Cup.
His first call-up to Carsley's under-21s came in March, and saw him debut against France on his 18th birthday. His first start came days later against Portugal, in which, interestingly, he played as one of two No 10s behind a striker. He scored from just outside the box that night and was occupying more central areas than he had been as a right-winger for Arsenal in Bukayo Saka's injury absence.
A natural attacking midfielder, as Arteta reminded people at the end of the season, there is interest in where Nwaneri fits positionally going forward at Arsenal. He impressed in Martin Odegaard's central midfield role on the final day win over Southampton, but circumstances have seen him have more exposure out wide in senior football.
Advertisement
Carsley's admission that he needs to be creative with his team selections could benefit Nwaneri, who has experience playing across a front three and in midfield.
'You can see sometimes I'm a natural midfielder,' says Nwaneri. 'But I think if the manager wants you to play in a position, you have to do it to the best of your abilities. I don't mind playing there because anywhere for the Arsenal first team I'll be happy playing, and trying to do a good job for the team. I've played false nine before a few times, actually. I think I can do a role anywhere that the manager needs me.
'I want to play forward. I want to be a positive player, one who affects the game, who can control the game, who scores goals. I think that's just my game. There's loads of stuff that I can add to my game. I think defence, (playing) inside, my physical capacity, there's loads of stuff that I can get to work on in my game. That's what I'm going to get to work on after we've hopefully won the tournament and joined pre-season.'
While Arsenal supporters may have been anticipating the impact Nwaneri had on the first team last season, it may have come as a shock to the more general Premier League observer. For the teenager himself, there were doubts that this would be his year.
'Before each season, I can see where I'm going to be at the end of the season,' he says. 'I've always had that ability to see and visualise where I want to be and put my mind towards it. I wasn't really surprised, I was aiming for 10 goals and I was close to it, but I think now it's just, 'What's the next step?' and what I need to do to get to where I want to be.'