Ethan Nwaneri continues to show that he is destined for the very top in an Arsenal shirt as he starred for his boyhood club in their crucial 2-0 victory against Leicester City.
Setting up Mikel Merino’s first goal, Ethan Nwaneri proved to be a real difference-maker from the right-wing and deservedly garnered praise for his latest heroics.
Merino lauded Nwaneri’s showing against Leicester as he described the 17-year-old as an “amazing player” after reflecting on how the pair combined for the eventual winner on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Michael Owen felt Nwaneri outperformed Merino against Leicester as the pundit claimed that the teenager was “the best player on the pitch.”
Even Joe Cole expressed his admiration towards Nwaneri as he dazzled at the King Power Stadium and looks like a real top player already for one of the best teams in the world.
As the Englishman shone for Arsenal, Martin Odegaard should have every reason to be concerned as the youngster showed that he has all the attributes to even take his spot one day.
Odegaard is a phenomenal player and remains one of the Gunners’ most important players.
But in Nwaneri, it is clear to see that Arsenal have a player who is much more of a match-winner than the Norwegian international.
Unlike Odegaard, who is more of a connector on the pitch, the highly-rated wonderkid is a player that turns games around by producing moments of magic that only the very best attacking players do — as exemplified by his exceptional assist for Merino’s headed goal.
Nwaneri, who has been compared to Cesc Fabregas is similar to the World Cup winner in the respect that he matches skill and productivity — already scoring an incredible seven goals across all competitions for the North Londoners this season.
Mikel Arteta lauded Odegaard’s display against Leicester as he proved once again that he has the ability to dictate the tempo of games — a habit that Nwaneri still lacks and one that is developed by several midfielders over time.
But quite often this campaign and over the past few years, when Arsenal have lacked an X-factor barring Saka to bail them out of games and the former Real Madrid playmaker has failed to step up — not due to his own inadequacies but because he is the type of player that who sets the stage for the other protagonists to shine.
Perhaps the best example in recent memory is that Odegaard, in terms of his profile and not his actual quality is similar to David Silva while Nwaneri is more reminiscent of Kevin De Bruyne.
While Silva also won games singlehandedly for Manchester City, his job was was to emerge as a match-winner while pulling the strings while De Bruyne would terrorise teams in the final third due to being a player who can especially change games in specific moments — as demonstrated by Nwaneri’s stunning goal against Girona in the Champions League recently.