Nwaneri grabbed the headlines as a 15-year-old in September 2022 when he made his Arsenal debut but it wasn't until last season that he made his first-team breakthrough. He went on to rack up 39 appearances, scoring nine goals and adding two assists. This season, however, the playmaker has found himself on the fringes, prompting manager Mikel Arteta to call for patience over the teenager.
In December, he said: "Ethan’s attitude on that is exceptional, he wants to train and he wants to be outside and he wants to be in touch with that ball. In that sense, he’s top. In the same manner that other players have to cope with this kind of situation, preparing in the best possible way, I think he’s doing it. His attitude has been excellent and when he’s got the chance to play, prove that I’m wrong, that he needs to play more minutes and help the team as much as possible."
When he was asked how he had explained the situation to Nwaneri, Arteta impressed upon the rising star that not many players had played as much football as he had at his age and that this was part of his development.
The Spaniard added: "Probably, by looking at where he is. He’s 18 years old [and has] 50 appearances for the club. I want to see how many examples there are in English football with that number at that age. That’s a reality, that’s not if, if, if, that’s a reality. So if somebody were to tell him, any of us, two years ago, that number with the squad that we have, probably we would go, it doesn’t sound very realistic."