Ethan Nwaneri sends Mikel Arteta timely reminder ahead of Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest

Ethan Nwaneri has sent Mikel Arteta a reminder of exactly what he can do if given the chance ahead of Premier League action resuming at the weekend.

The 18-year-old has only made one appearance for Arsenal so far this season, with the teenager replacing Martin Odegaard in the first half of the 5-0 win against Leeds United. The Hale Ender did not come off the bench against Manchester United and Liverpool, with Arteta instead using the likes of Odegaard, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino as No.8s in the midfield.

Even with Bukayo Saka injured, summer signing Noni Madueke has acted as Saka’s replacement and not Nwaneri, as was the case last campaign. Nwaneri did get valuable minutes playing for England U21s on Monday, however.

Starting in the No.10 role against Kazakhstan U21s in the Euro U21 qualifier, Nwaneri opened the scoring for Lee Carsley’s side after 18 minutes. Nwaneri was set up by Divin Mubama, who laid the ball off to the teenager on the edge of the box. Nwaneri did not need a second invitation to shoot and impressively found the bottom right hand corner.

Jobe Bellingham doubled England’s lead five minutes later and the young Three Lions held on for the 2-0 win. Capable of playing as an attacking midfielder or off the right, Nwaneri has certainly proven that he knows where the net is. He already has nine senior goals for Arsenal to his name and averages a goal around every four appearances.

With Arteta facing some criticism for playing Merino instead of Nwaneri against Liverpool before the international break, Nwaneri is certainly staking his claim to get back into the side for the clash against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Arteta has not been afraid to give Nwaneri chances and the teenager will most likely get many more in the months ahead.

“I think the biggest thing is to push him, and then when he is being pushed, you always grab him right behind to make sure that he’s always stable and protected,” Arteta said last year. “But with this talent, you have to push him. The protection is necessary to keep an eye on him and be at the right distance, but he needs to see that he can fly and don’t clip any wings.”

Nwaneri himself is very grateful to the Arsenal boss and insists he has learned a lot from the former Gunners captain. “There’s a lot to learn from Mikel. 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,” Nwaneri said in an interview with The Athletic.

“I think there’s so much, not even just tactically and mentally and all that stuff. On a personal level, he’s helped me a lot. He’s elevated my game, definitely.”