Most football clubs like to consider themselves like a family, and this appears to quite literally be the case at Arsenal. Indeed, the son of manager Mikel Arteta is rising through the ranks in north London and recently made his debut for the under-18 team.
At 16 years of age, Gabriel Arteta Bernal is his father's oldest son, and is steadily making a name for himself within at Hale End. He has some way to go before establishing himself like Bukayo Saka and Max Dowman, some of the most notable graduates of the fabled academy in recent times.
That said, he's now played for the U18s, coming off the bench against Reading in the 70th minute, as his team picked up a 3-0 victory away from home.
Gabriel Arteta Makes U18 Debut as Ethan Nwaneri's Younger Brother Scores
Gabriel Arteta had previously been named on the bench for the U18s friendly against Ipswich Town in February, but failed to get on the pitch. This time, however, he played 70 minutes, coming on for Abraham Owusu-Gyasi.
At the time, the score was just 1-0, with Emerson Nwaneri – brother of Marseille loanee Ethan Nwaneri – grabbing the opener in the 39th minute. With Arteta juniour on the pitch, the young Gunners would then score twice more, with a brace from Alex Marciniak enough to seal a 3-0 win against Reading at Bearwood Park.
Ethan Nwaneri has spoken about how he would love to one day representing the Arsenal first-team alongside his younger brother, saying: “We’re really close, but I wouldn’t say we are that similar. He’s probably more outgoing than me – he’s the loud one. “There are three years between us so it would be really cool if we could both play in the Arsenal first team together one day. “We’ve spoken about that a bit and what that would be like, it’s something to aim for.”
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Gabriel Arteta's debut U18s appearance comes six months after he made his competitive debut for the U17s in their Premier League Cup meeting with Watford in October. Unlike his father, who played in central midfield, Gabriel is seen as a winger.
Footage has emerged of 16-year-old online, as the young winger looked to make an imapct on his first outing. Wearing the no.16 shirt, he showed quick feet, and pirouetted nicely, to evade three Reading players, before finding the space to get a left-footed shot away at goal. The effort, from the edge of the box, was straight at the opposition goalkeeper, and was easily saved.
Supporters online seemed impressed by the clip, one wrote: "He’s better than his dad." Another asked: "Wait a sec he’s acc good?" One more joked that he could soon take Ethan Nwaneri's spot in the team, saying: "He’s left footed?? Ethan is so gone."
One more spoke with excitement, adding: "Bro came on and instantly started terrorising defenders… academy is cooking again."
It's interesting to note that the 16-year-old is not officially contracted to the club. It remains unclear if he will be offered a contract at Arsenal, but as his development continuoes, it's fair to believe he is highly thought of at Hale.
After the win, Arsenal U18s remain 11th place in the table with six games to play this season, including the reverse fixture against Reading.