Arsenal starlet Ethan Nwaneri has just turned 18. How do his career stats now compare to the all-time standard-bearer for Premier League wonderkids – Wayne Rooney at Everton?
It’s a rare feat to burst onto the scene before being old enough to be served a pint. Only Michael Owen and Rooney have scored more Premier League goals before their 18th birthday than Nwaneri.
Nwaneri became the Premier League’s youngest-ever debutant when Mikel Arteta handed him his bow in the closing stages of a 3-0 victory over Brentford in September 2022.
He was just 15 years and 181 days at the time – the only player in Premier League history to feature in a game before turning 16.
Unlike Rooney, the Arsenal wonderkid had to bide his time for further opportunities. That brief cameo was his only first-team appearance that season, while he only notched a further one in the full 2023-24 campaign.
At the age of 17, though, he’s broken through to become an important player for Arteta’s Gunners – his prodigious talent proving particularly useful amid an attacking injury crisis, which has given him the opportunity of a proper run in the team.
Rooney is actually only the 17th youngest debutant in Premier League history. He was 16 years and 297 days old when he made his debut for boyhood club Everton, starting the match and assisting Mark Pembridge’s opener in a 2-2 draw at home to Tottenham in August 2002.
The lad from Croxteth never looked back from there, immediately making himself an important player in David Moyes’ first-team squad.
“It’s a special goal and a special talent, an English talent, the biggest English talent that I’ve seen here since I’m in England and by far, he has everything what you dream to have,” a magnanimous Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports after a 16-year-old Rooney announced himself to the world with an inspired long-range injury-time match-winner against Arsenal.
“Intelligent, quick reactions, good with running with the ball, moves forward quickly and of course, he’s very accurate in front of goal.”
That was Rooney’s first Premier League goal, just six days before his 17th birthday in October 2002.
“I hope he will not be injured now within the next two or three years and that mentally, he will be able to cope with what’s happening to him but he’s a huge talent,” Wenger added.
“Well, that’s too early to say [whether he will leave Everton for an elite club] that but I just give you my frank opinion of what I feel and he’s too young to move anywhere now, he first has to prove at Everton how far he can go. He has time in front of him to see first, step by step and feet on the Earth, that’s the most important thing you can wish.”
Rooney’s moment of brilliance ended a 30-match unbeaten run for the Gunners. And he’d find himself on the scoresheet once again for Manchester United when Arsenal’s record 49-match unbeaten run ended in the infamous ‘Battle of the Buffet’ defeat at Old Trafford in October 2004.
There have been some suggestions that Rooney never quite fully realised his potential, which is a wild line of thought when you consider he went on to become Manchester United and England’s all-time top goalscorer (the latter record since being taken by Harry Kane).
Rooney played over a hundred international appearances and captained England in his latter years after a career that saw him win five Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one Champions League and three League Cups. Only Alan Shearer and Kane have scored more Premier League goals.
Given that, it’s pretty remarkable that Nwaneri’s record so far holds a candle to a young Rooney at Everton. It’s worth taking these stats with a pinch of salt and remembering that Nwaneri is giving a platform in an Arsenal team that are 2nd in the table, whereas Moyes’ Everton finished seventh in Rooney’s breakthrough 2002-03 season.
Nwaneri is yet to receive his first England call-up, although he’ll surely factor into Thomas Tuchel’s plans in the months and years ahead. Rooney was integrated into Sven Goran Eriksson’s first-team set-up as a 17-year-old, scoring two goals from seven caps before his 18th birthday.
But for the purposes of this comparison, we’ve taken a look at their club career stats only.
Here’s how Ethan Nwaneri’s career stats now compare to Rooney’s at Everton when he turned 18:
Ethan Nwaneri’s Arsenal career stats so far
All Competitions
Games: 31
Starts: 12
Sub Appearances: 19
Goals: 8
Assists: 1
Minutes per goal: 138
Minutes per goal or assist: 122
Premier League
Games: 19
Starts: 7
Sub Appearances: 12
Goals: 3
Assists: 1
Minutes per goal: 204
Minutes per goal or assist: 153
Wayne Rooney for Everton at age 18
All Competitions
Games: 46
Starts: 22
Sub Appearances: 24
Goals: 9
Assists: 2
Minutes per goal: 266
Minutes per goal or assist: 218
Premier League
Games: 41
Starts: 19
Sub Appearances: 22
Goals: 7
Assists: 2
Minutes per goal: 291
Minutes per goal or assist: 227
Ethan Nwaneri Wayne Rooney Stats Comparison Arsenal Everton Age 18 Goals Assists
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