Alan Smith: Arsenal Wonderkid Impresses Despite Team Struggles

The absence of Martin Odegaard have caused plenty of issues for Arsenal over recent weeks, but it has also provided valuable opportunities to 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri. The youngster recently starred in Arsenal’s 5-1 victory over Preston North End in the Carabao Cup and now has three goals in two games in that competition this season.

Arsenal legend Alan Smith spoke exclusively to EPL Index, and was full of praise for the teenager.

“No Fear”

“He’s a lovely player,” began Smith, “He goes on the pitch and he owns it. There’s no fear there whatsoever.” It’s incredibly rare to see a player of that age take the whole responsibility of playing for such a club on their shoulders and still manage to showcase their ability in the way that Nwaneri has.

“He knows that he is a good player and he always wants to get on the ball,” said Smith. That confidence and belief that he can change and influence games is so important and is something that we have seen from very few youngsters over recent years. It would be easy to draw comparisons to Bukayo Saka, who also came into this Arsenal side at a young age and very quickly nailed down a spot in Arteta’s plans and has never looked back since.

Opportunity on the Horizon

As mentioned above, Odegaard’s injury has had a hugely damning impact on Arsenal’s start to the season but it could be a blessing in disguise for young Nwaneri. His first-team minutes have grown since the absence of the Norwegian playmaker, and that’s no coincedence.

“He’s definitely heading in the right direction,” said Smith, “Of course, there’s a long way to go yet but he’s definitely part of the group now.” It’s nine senior appearances for Nwaneri now, after having so much experience in the youth setups, scoring 27 goals in 52 games. The 17-year-old will be keen to impress whilst these minutes are cropping up, but it has already became blatantly obvious that Arteta is a huge fan of the youngster.

“What a boost it is to Mikel Arteta that he can call on somebody like that from the academy, with so much quality.” It’s certainly a testament to the work being done at Arsenal’s academy with Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly both making progress in the first-team setup, which is filled with such quality in itself.