Who is Ethan Nwaneri? Premier League's youngest debutant

The 15-year-old is the youngest debutant in English top-flight history

What were you doing at the age of 15? Completing junior school or preparing for big exams? Well, Ethan Nwaneri, aged 15, made his professional football debut for one of Europe's biggest clubs, Arsenal. He set a record by becoming one of the Premier League's youngest players.

The youngster, born in March 2007, came on as a substitute in the final moments of the game at Brentford. Replacing Fabio Vieira, the moment he walked on, he made history. Nwaneri broke Harvey Elliot's record for the youngest debutant at 15 years and 181 days.

Elliot was 16 years and 30 days old when he made his Fulham debut in 2019.

Arsenal were on the verge of a 3-0 win at Brentford when Nwaneri came on as a substitute after 91 minutes and two seconds to replace Viera, who also scored his first goal for the Gunners.

He appeared in the game for three minutes before the referee blew the final whistle after 94 minutes. Despite only getting a 3-minute cameo, he created history by becoming the Premier League's youngest player at the age of 15.

After the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta Said, "We have the opportunities to bring young players on. We are pretty short and opportunities come when issues arise."

Arsenal are once again on the summit of the table after a 3-0 convincing victory over Brentford, leapfrogging both Manchester City and Tottenham, who also won.

School in the morning and football in the evening

Theo Walcott made his Champions League debut for Arsenal the same month Nwaneri was born.

Nwaneri was 12 when COVID-19 began, and he is now playing Premier League football three years later.

Nwaneri, who is 15 and 181 days old, has surpassed Cesc Fabregas as Arsenal's youngest debutant (16 years 5 months, 24 days).

Also Read: Top 11 youngest players in Premier League history

From where has Ethan Nwaneri emerged? 

Nwaneri was born on March 21, 2007, when Arsenal's new stadium, Emirates Stadium, was completed and the club moved from their previous home ground, Highbury, in 2006. He was a naturally gifted player and made quite an impression when he was younger.

He developed into a competent player and made his U-18s debut for Arsenal. Scoring a goal on his debut against Reading and illustrating his eye-catching quality.

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1571493409948405769

Nwaneri made his England U-17s debut against the Faroe Islands as he grew in stature and drew the attention of the senior team.

With Arsenal's insufficiency in midfield after the injuries to Martin Odegaard and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Nwaneri was called up to the first-team, and it was there that he realized he had truly emerged into a prominent midfielder.

After the match, Arteta marvelled "It was a pure gut feeling,"

"I met the boy and really liked what I saw. Per Mertesacker and the academy staff are giving me really good information, Edu as well. I met him, he's trained a couple of times with us."

"Yesterday he had to come because we have injuries, especially the injury of Martin Odegaard, and then I had that feeling from yesterday that if the opportunity could come that I was going to do it and I just did it."

Nwaneri has a long road ahead of him, and he should emphasize his development so that he can join Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka in the first team.