Today sees Ethan Nwaneri celebrating his 18th birthday, and it's incredible to think about what he's achieved already in the game despite his young age.
The Hale End graduate has enjoyed a breakout campaign, hitting the back of the net eight times already in red and white this term. In fact, no player in our 138-year history has ever scored more men’s first-team goals before turning 18:
Most Arsenal goals before turning 18
Player
Turned 18
Goals before 18
Ethan Nwaneri
21/03/2025
8
John Radford
22/02/1962
8
Cliff Bastin
14/03/1930
6
Cesc Fabregas
04/05/2005
3
Stewart Robson
06/11/1982
3
Ethan has drawn level with John Radford, who bagged eight goals before turning 18 in February 1965, three of which saw him become our youngest-ever hat-trick scorer when he bagged a treble against Wolves aged 17 years and 315 days. Radford went on to become our fourth-highest scorer ever, with 149 strikes across 12 years.
Ethan has also surpassed the likes of other prodigies such as the man just above Radford in the all-time goal charts, Cliff Bastin, as well as Cesc Fabregas, who still our youngest goalscorer when he too netted against Wolves in 2003 aged 16 years and 212 days.
Having become the youngest player in English top-flight history when he came on against Brentford back in September 2022 aged 15 years and 181 days old, this season has really seen Ethan make a name for himself.
A brace against Bolton Wanderers and an excellent strike at Preston North End came in the Carabao Cup before his first in the Premier League against Nottingham Forest in November, when he became the ninth-youngest goalscorer in the division’s history.
He followed that up with netting a fine solo effort at Brighton & Hove Albion, and also found the net in successive Champions League matches against Girona and PSV Eindhoven to become the youngest player to achieve that landmark. Those were sandwiched between a brilliant curler right at the end of our 5-1 win against Manchester City which was nominated for the Premier League's Goal of the Month award.
Only Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney have scored the most competitive goals for a Premier League team before turning 18, showing his feats this term have been extraordinary:
Most goals for a PL team before turning 18 (all comps)
**Player**
**Goals**
Michael Owen
9
Wayne Rooney
9
**Ethan Nwaneri**
8
Danny Cadamarteri
4
Cesc Fabregas
3
James Milner
3
Mikael Forssell
3
His strike in Eindhoven saw him become the third youngest scorer in the Champions League knockout stages. He sits behind Fabregas and Aaron Ramsey as the third-youngest scorer for an English side in the competition since its rebrand in 1992.
Youngest scorers of a Champions League knockout stage goal
**Date**
**Age**
**Player**
**Team**
**Opponent**
01/04/2008
17y, 217d
Bojan
Barcelona
Schalke
14/04/2021
17y, 289d
Jude Bellingham
Borussia Dortmund
Man City
**04/03/2025**
**17y, 348d**
**Ethan Nwaneri**
**Arsenal**
**PSV**
23/02/2021
17, 363d
Jamal Musiala
Bayern Munich
Lazio
21/02/2017
18, 63d
Kylian Mbappe
Monaco
Man City
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