Three ways Mikel Arteta can fit Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka into the same Arsenal team | OneFootball

Teenage star is proving much more than an understudy as excitement grows at Gunners

Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka could form an exciting partnership at Arsenal

Action Images via Reuters

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Mikel Arteta has had plenty of selection headaches this season and the Arsenal manager is about to get another one.

This time, at least, it will not be because of injuries but instead the talent of Ethan Nwaneri.

Only Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, with nine, have scored more goals for a Premier League club before their 18th birthday.

Nwaneri could break that record given he has three more games before he turns 18 later this month.

The teenager began this season as the understudy to Martin Odegaard, but more recently he has covered for Bukayo Saka on the right wing.

Arteta admitted he had a number of options to replace Saka, however Nwaneri has comfortably shown himself to be the best one. Since Saka got injured, Nwaneri has scored four goals in eight starts.

“He is an unbelievable player,” midfielder Mikel Merino said after Tuesday’s 7-1 win over PSV Eindhoven.

Star boy: Ethan Nwaneri is shining for Arsenal

Peter Lous/PA Wire

“I have been saying it for a long time. Every time I come here, you guys ask me about him. But I won’t get tired talking about him, because he deserves it.

“He is not 17 years old, playing in the Premier League and Champions League, thinking he has already learnt everything. He is always willing to listen to the other guys, listen to the boss, and that’s credit to him.”

The headache for Arteta is what he does with Nwaneri when Saka returns?

Saka will reclaim his place on the right wing, where he has an almost telepathic understanding with Odegaard, and that leaves question marks over where Nwaneri plays.

The 17-year-old could, of course, drop to the bench and become a dangerous impact player.

Arsenal’s bench has looked incredibly light in recent weeks due to injuries and having a player like Nwaneri to come on when teams are tiring is an exciting prospect.

But the level that Nwaneri is playing out now makes it hard to drop him and that was a point Rooney made during his punditry for Amazon Prime on Tuesday night.

If he is to stay in the team, then it feels like Arteta has three options as to where he plays Nwaneri.

He could deploy the teenager alongside Martin Odegaard as a left No8, but that would mean dropping one of Declan Rice or Thomas Partey from the midfield.

It would also be out of keeping with Arteta’s desire to have the left No8 player as a physical presence on and off the ball.

Nwaneri could be deployed on the left wing, but Arsenal are due to welcome back Gabriel Martinelli next month. Leandro Trossard is also performing well after a mixed first half of the season.

Playing out on the left would weaken Nwaneri’s biggest strength, too, which is cutting in from the right and shooting.

That leaves the No9 position, an area where Arsenal do not have an out-and-out option for the rest of the season because Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are injured.

Arteta has previously floated the idea of Nwaneri one day becoming a striker and during his time in Arsenal’s academy he was used as a ‘false nine’.

Coaches for the Under-14 and Under-15 sides moved Nwaneri from the No10 position to a striker, largely because his finishing meant he needed to be played closer to the goal.

Growing up Nwaneri worked incredibly hard on his that area of his game, doing extra finishing sessions with his dad, Obi, at their local park in Islington.

Playing as a striker for the first team would be huge leap and there would rightly be reservations about Nwaneri’s hold-up play and pressing.

Havertz may come under fire for his finishing, but when it comes to those two traits his quality cannot be questioned and it is a big reason why Arsenal’s attack functions so well when he plays.

Nwaneri as a striker would be a gamble, however it is an exciting one and a situation where the upside feels far greater than the down.

Given Arsenal have no other recognised strikers right now, experimenting with Nwaneri feels a roll of the dice worth taking.

Who knows, Arteta may stumble on a tactical tweak that transforms Arsenal’s attack and certainly the idea of Nwaneri, Odegaard and Saka all playing together is a mouthwatering prospect.