ETHAN NWANERI is not one for unnecessary fuss or over-the-top celebrations.
Less than 24 hours after becoming the Prem’s youngest player – making his Arsenal debut on Sunday September 18, 2022 aged 15 years and 181 days off the bench at Brentford – he was handing in GCSE English homework at St John’s Senior School in Enfield.
Teacher Elle Bewley revealed: “I’m not joking, he just walked into school on Monday, gave me his homework, sat down and got on with it. No discussion, no distraction. Nothing.”
So, it is no surprise that Nwaneri will not be celebrating his 18th birthday on Friday like any normal teenager would. Instead, he is part of Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 camp taking on France in Lorient.
The Hale End wonderboy – already with eight goals across all competitions in his breakthrough season under boss Mikel Arteta – is now technically a man.
This landmark day also means he can finally get changed in the same dressing room as Arsenal’s seniors at the Emirates and their London Colney training base – safeguarding restrictions prevented him from doing so until now.
But those that know Nwaneri best will tell you he has been a wise old head on young shoulders for some time, such is his eye-catching maturity and humble personality.
It is assumed he gets that from his father, a guiding figure in his life on and off the pitch so far.
At the Under-17 European Championships in Hungary back in May 2023, Nwaneri spent time diligently studying in hotel rooms – alongside pal and fellow academy grad Myles Lewis-Skelly – for his GCSE exams as his father had warned that education comes before football.
At St John’s, he would ask teachers for extra revision papers to take home. For a GCSE English spoken language project, he avoided basing it on football, instead researching and presenting it on conspiracy theories.
His speciality was mathematics, scoring 98 per cent in his school entrance exams. His headteacher Alexander Tardios commented: “He is a very academic boy. He could have easily ended up at King’s College or UCL.”
Nwaneri would order Ubers from London Colney back to his school to ensure he did not miss any tests.
And on days off, Nwaneri would have childhood friend Lewis-Skelly – who lived nearby – cycle over so they could get in some extra training.
Even now, as a first-team regular, he has remained down-to-earth. After training, he is often seen waiting in the car park to be picked up while his team-mates drive off in luxury sports cars.
Nwaneri was first introduced to the Arsenal fans as an eight-year-old in May 2015 when the Under-9s were paraded around the pitch at half-time of a 4-1 Premier League victory over West Brom.
Four-and-a-half years later, a 12-year-old Nwaneri was on the radar of newly-appointed manager Arteta. The Spaniard asked academy coach Dan Micciche for videos of his progress.
Soon, Nwaneri was training with boys much his senior, scoring on his Arsenal Under-18s debut aged 14 having played for the Under-14s aged 12.
He was also encouraged to play in numerous positions to enhance his development, toughen him up: No10, a left-sided No8, a centre-forward and winger.
‘Continues to develop’
Ex-Arsenal midfielder Steve Morrow was the Gunners’ head of youth development when Nwaneri arrived at Hale End after a brief stint in Chelsea’s youth set-up.
Morrow told SunSport: “We always had that philosophy that the players needed to be at a level where they were being more challenged than their actual age group.
“The traits that he had from 11 and 12 years old, you still see. That balance, that drop of the shoulder, that power, that acceleration. How he is so direct as well.
“It’s incredible how all those super-strengths that he had have continued to develop.
“Going down to Hale End and watching him on a Sunday, he was scoring goals for fun every week with pure skill and intelligence and technique, not just physical qualities.
“He didn’t always play wide, he often played centrally. That really helped his development because it gave him spacial awareness of what was going on around him.
Seizing his chance
“It is quite rare for young players to be such good decision-makers. He had it early and you can see it today. Ethan can go as far as he wishes.
“Sometimes you see players that you think have similar levels of talent but it’s always the ones that have the right attitude, character and focus, the ones who are brave and able to deal with disappointments, who make it.”
At the end of his scholarship year in the summer of 2023, he was linked with a move back to Chelsea, with Manchester United and Manchester City also sniffing around, but eventually committed to the club with his first senior contract signed in March 2024.
It has paid off, seizing his chance with Bukayo Saka out for three months this term following hamstring surgery in December, shining both in the Prem and the Champions League so far.
Current Under-18s coach Adam Birchall said: “We treated him like any other person. And the parents were outstanding in understanding the importance of that.
“That’s such a key thing, because it really helped in values — in everything, as people.
“What I’ve seen throughout is [Nwaneri’s] application to be the best he can be, that mentality, just being relentless.
“That’s what being a Strong Young Gunner is all about — that real strength as a person and understanding yourself to be able to go into that environment.”
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