Ethan Nwaneri is ready to contribute to Mikel Arteta's Arsenal project

Ethan Nwaneri has been impressed with Arsenal in the pre-season and is ready to stake his claim in the first team.

Loans are an integral part of the footballing world - and have helped countless players to reach their potential and thrive in the past, and present.

In recent years, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Emiliano Martinez have been some of the Gunners' most notable talents to benefit from loan moves, while others have not always enjoyed the same success.

Every once in a while, however, an academy talent is unearthed who is simply too good to be sent out on loan - and is able to bypass the entire system to contribute to the first team.

Arsenal's most notable recent example of this is Bukayo Saka - who made his first-team debut aged 17, two years older than when Nwaneri made his debut.

So as Nwaneri, who is now 17 years old, continues to impress in pre-season, what makes him special enough to skip the loan system?

Ethan Nwaneri's meteoric rise

Nwaneri is a name that most Arsenal fans have been synonymous with for some time - since he made his debut as a 15-year-old phenomenon in September 2022. Since then, however, the young star has made just one further appearance for the senior side.

Despite remaining with the U18s and U21s for much of the last two years, fans have never forgotten about him, and it would have been hard to do so given the near-constant captivating performances that he has put in for the academy sides.

Fast-forward to summer 2024, and Nwaneri was rewarded for his fine form and development with a place in Arsenal’s United States pre-season tour squad - along with several other academy stars.

Where his development differs from most of these other youngsters, however, is that upon returning to England, he has remained with the first-team squad.

Against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, the teenage sensation played 27 minutes - as his integration with the senior team continues ahead of the new season.

Trusted by Mikel Arteta

When a youth player breaks into the first team, ability is obviously a hugely important factor for whether or not they will be given a chance.

But ability is worthless if said player does not have the backing of their manager but, luckily, that could not be further from the truth for Nwaneri.

Arteta has at times been criticised for not giving youth players enough opportunities in the first team - but Nwaneri, and some of his peers, look to have forced the Spaniard’s hand or, perhaps, they just bought into the process.

Speaking after the Leverkusen game, Arteta said: “If they [academy players] continue like they are doing right now, I'm not going to have any difference [in approach] whether they come from the academy or we sign in from Argentina, or Germany, or Italy.

“They are showing the quality that they have, especially they're showing the personality that they have to play at this level, and let's see. Why are we going to put any restrictions [on their game time]. [It is] the opposite, they deserve minutes, they will gain minutes."

From this, it is clear to see that Arteta envisages being able to call upon his youth options far more in the coming campaign than in previous seasons.

This will be very welcome news to fans but, above all else, bodes exceptionally well for the young stars themselves - who can expect to receive ample to impress in the first team.

With this in mind, while some have expected, or called for, Nwaneri to go out on loan - he has shown fans that he is ready to make his mark on the first team, and Arteta clearly thinks so too.

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