This season Ethan Nwaneri is one of Arsenal's Breakout stars together with fellow Teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly and he has revealed that both players are led by Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka
Kids of Fame Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly are accompanied by Arsenal's Top Guns Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka. At the age of 18, the graduates from the Academy were able to become Champions League winners next month -but it is no surprise for Nwaneri that they are driving the young generation from the Gunners to glory.
The Quicksilver Forward and England left back Lewis-Skelly has forged a double act by the age groups in Arsenal-Net such as Rice and Mason Mount were once inseparable contemporaries as school boys in Chelsea.
After scoring his ninth goal of the season in the 4-0 routing of the doomed Ipswich, Nwaneri revealed: “This is what we have talked about since we were young – breaking together in the team.
“We have just seen our eyes on that vision and the fact that we were able to do it, it's great. Declan and Bukayo, those are the two that are very close to us. They help us, they keep us ground, they lift us if we need it. They have been brilliant with us.
“It is especially personal things such as how they deal with things when they first came, and how they were the pressure, and maybe when they did not play well, or when they did well, and just manage it.”
At some clubs, a dressing room of big animals can be a daunting prospect for teenagers who break through in the first team when they are seen as a threat to established senior professionals.
But Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly have had no hang-ups since they were quickly followed in the first team group at the Emirates. Nwaneri, who became the youngest Prime Minister League player in history when he made his debut to Brentford in just 15 years and 181 days ago in 2022, said: “That is proof of the way the players treat us. They treat us as if we have been treating for the first time.
“I would not say that I was nervous in the beginning, but there was another pressure that I felt and I think I saw that that was a good thing – that it shows that I am feeling that I feel these things. I was fine with all things like that. I am not surprised because this is what I had presented in mind, this is what I always wanted to do.
“Me and Myles, we talk every second of every day. We always talk about everything alone. We look back on the old times, we look in the future, it's all. We have a lot of photos of the two of the young people – many photos and videos of us together.
“We have pushed each other since we were young – one person will start playing (a level), then the next one starts playing, one person starts to score, then the next one will start scoring. That is exactly how I and him work. It is not competitive, but we raise each other's norms, and that's so good to have a friend.
“It was difficult for me to adapt to a new position (on the right wing), but that is part of football. If the manager asks you to play somewhere else, you have to do it at the highest level.
“It has been up and down, but I certainly enjoyed the challenge. Of course I have always been a no. 10 – I have played my whole life as a no. 10. But I can also play as a striker. Legal wing is a new one for me, but now I have liked the challenge of a new position and I can play where the team needs me.
“It has been so crazy, but this is what the manager wants. He has had this vision in his head, he wants us to win everything, and he takes us to that level and we are getting closer every week.”