‘I gave Ethan Nwaneri a scholarship in eight minutes – Arsenal have someone very special'

Ethan Nwaneri became, by a distance, the youngest Premier League player in history when he made his Arsenal debut nearly two years ago.

Coming off the bench against Brentford in September 2022, the creative midfielder was still six months off his 16th birthday. But he had already been turning heads with his mind-blowing ability for quite some time.

Nwaneri once again hammered home his immense talent on Wednesday night with a superb strike in Arsenal’s 3-0 win at Preston North End in the Carabao Cup. That’s now three goals in six club appearances this campaign for the highly-rated wonderkid, now 17, who seems destined for a massive future in the game.

The scale of Nwaneri’s gift is highlighted by a story recounted by Alexander Tardios, the headteacher of St John’s Senior School in Enfield, which the youngster attended on a scholarship until the age of 16.

Eight minutes of a trial game was all it took for Tardios and his staff to make their minds up on Nwaneri, and they even pulled him off the pitch as an act of mercy towards the other children.

“The first time that I saw him was at the school academy trial day,” he explained. “We had a football pitch full of academy players from various clubs.

“In such a scenario, you’re looking for a talent that might just about stand out. But when Ethan Nwaneri walked onto the pitch, he was so head and shoulders above the other children that he was passing them as if they weren’t there, which is incredible considering we’re talking about a pitch full of academy players.

“Within eight minutes I picked up my phone and texted someone with a lot of knowledge on football and asked them whether they knew a boy called Ethan Nwaneri. His simple text back to me was, ‘Yes, he is spectacular’.

“We had to take him off the pitch because no other player could touch the ball, and he got his full scholarship within eight minutes of seeing him on the football pitch.”

Nwaneri is now a regular on Arsenal’s bench in the Premier League, and he has started both of their Carabao Cup games so far this term. The teenage superstar is also playing above his age group with England Under-19s.

But Mr Tardios is adamant that Gunners fans have another thing coming when Nwaneri is given the freedom to play week in, week out. “People don’t realise how talented he really is,” he continued.

“When you see him play properly, you will understand why there is so much attention on him. He’s skillful, powerful, fast, humble. Really, Arsenal have something special. And I’d go even further by saying that England have something very special, as he gets older.”