Mikel Arteta has included Arsenal academy sensation Ethan Nwaneri in the Gunners squad that travelled to face FC Porto ahead of a potential Champions League debut.
The north London side will return to the last 16 of UEFA’s elite club festival on Wednesday evening. Arsenal have been in the last 16 of the Champions League since 2017 and last won in the round of 16 in 2010. They even beat Porto in their last match.
But Arsenal have never won at Porto in their previous three visits after a draw in 2006 and defeats in 2008 and 2010. The Emirates Stadium natives responded to the 2-1 defeat in February 2010 with a 5-0 victory. Arsenal have never conceded goals. He scored at home to Porto.
However, as well as a historic result, Arteta has opted to come with Arsenal academy star Nwaneri on his travel team for a stopover in Porto. Jeorge Bird notes that the 16-year-old flew to Portugal with the rest of the Gunners squad. The following Tuesday he also trained with the first team.
Arteta also naming Nwaneri in the Team of the Day at Estadio do Dragao would mark his third inclusion for a Champions League match. The England U17 foreigner also decided to oppose RC Lens and PSV Eindhoven in the organisation phase, but did not take part in the matches.
Nwaneri has yet to appear in Europe at senior level and is yet to appear in an FA Cup or Carabao Cup tie. But Arteta gave the talented gem his second Premier League outing as Arsenal thrashed West Ham United 6-0 this month. Nwaneri played for The Last Thirteen Minutes.
Arteta has included Nwaneri in 3 top-flight groups to date, but allowed him to make a bit of history as the youngest player in a Premier League when Arsenal beat Brentford 3-0 in September 2022. Nwaneri played as a replacement at the age of 15, aged five months and 28 days.
Education possibilities in London Colney’s senior team have been common ever since for Hale End’s product. Arteta is a big fan of Nwaneri and believes the Arsenal prodigy has “unique” characteristics that he could now tap into against Porto. It reminds Arteta, Jack Wilshere.
“They gave him something exclusive about him that I liked from the start,” Arteta said, via Arsenal’s website, in December. “They gave him the ability to take the ball in tight spaces and get away a little bit like Jack Wilshere did. “.
Wilshere also praised Nwaneri’s feet after a few performances with his under-18s. The cult hero-turned-manager praised the teenager in November 2022 when he managed a 3-3 draw against Manchester United by scoring a brace in the U18 Premier League Cup draw.
“In the first half he tried to locate space, betting on other people and creating space for himself, and we couldn’t locate him one bit,” Wilshere explained, via the Daily Mail. “In the second half, he was very smart. ” At times it was unplayable. He had a great time. “