Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta with Christian Norgaard.placeholder image
Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta with Christian Norgaard. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
The Gunners must not forgot to keep key current players at the club, as well as marquee signings this summer.
Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta arrived at the club earlier this year with plenty of hype and, after a quiet start to the transfer window, is now living up to that excitement.
There’s plenty of reason for praise to be sent Berta’s way, landing big names with proven experience in key areas that needed strengthening. However, with so much focus on new arrivals, the former Atletico Madrid chief must not forget the Gunners’ own wonderkid.
Andrea Berta must not forget Arsenal contract talks
Ethan Nwaneri enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last season when thrust into the action due to an injury to Bukayo Saka. The 18-year-old looked comfortable on the flank and capable of going on to achieve very big things.
The teenager scored nine goals for Arsenal last season but his current deal is set to expire in 12 months’ time. That has led to rumours of a potential exit this summer to allow Arsenal to cash in, but that would be a huge error given just how good the player could go on to be.
The Daily Mail has reported that Arsenal are ‘increasingly confident’ of reaching a new agreement with Nwaneri but that cannot be treated as a given. As important as Berta’s work is in bringing Madueke, Mosquera and Gyokeres in, reassuring Nwaneri of his place at the club holds just as much significance.
Arsenal should need little convincing that keeping Nwaneri is the right thing to do. Mikel Arteta regularly praised the player last season and former Premier League midfielder Joe Cole even went as far as to compare him to Lionel Messi.
Ethan Nwaneri tipped for big things
After a 2-0 win over Leicester City, Cole told TNT Sports: "He's a strong little thing. You can't mark him because he can go both ways. These touches he produces in and around the box, I don't want to say it, but it's like Messi.
"I don't want to put any more pressure on the kid's shoulders, I'm sure he'll deal with it. He plays with such confidence and he's a beautiful player."
Former Premier League goalkeeper Paul Robinson has also praised Nwaneri and warned Arsenal over the time they are taking to agree a new contract. He told Football Insider: “As an academy product, you always struggle when your agent goes in for equal pay to players who have come in for big money. You’re not always thought of in the same bracket and you’re not always treated the same. As wrong as that sounds, it’s just a fact and that’s how it is.
“Once you’ve been at a club for such a long time, sometimes you have to move on to get that respect, that credibility in the dressing room, and that level of pay. The agent will be using that as leverage to get the new contract signed. You look at what he’s done, he’s still only 18, but in the position he plays they’re bringing in Madueke. Where does that leave Nwaneri? If Madueke comes in, the agent’s next question will be why can’t you offer him the same wages as Madueke?
“Granted, you have to earn your stripes and at 18 years old he won’t be getting that same type of contract. But there’s got to be a certain parity and incentives in the contract. I suspect his contract offer at the moment isn’t anything like what the more senior players are on.”
In other news, 'Here We Go': Fabrizio Romano confirms 'powerful' Arsenal transfer.
Continue Reading