Speaking to TEAMtalk, Charles Watts reports that Arsenal’s big-six rivals pushed hard to convince Ethan Nwaneri not to sign a new deal with the club this summer.
“Chelsea and Manchester City did everything they could to turn his head, not just his head, to turn him and everyone around him, which is the way of the world obviously, when it comes to signing these players now,” Watts said.
“There’s so much competition to get the best young talents in English football, and it looked for a long time like he was going to go.
“Everyone that you spoke to in and around football and various agents who have players around the youth teams… it was pretty well believed he was going to be heading off either to Chelsea or Man City.
“And so for Arsenal to keep him, to convince him, again says a lot about where the club is at the moment, that they’ve managed to keep hold of their best young talents.
“And that I know they are absolutely delighted to keep hold of him and to be able to bat away the interest of Chelsea and Man City to keep him.”
After plenty of speculation, Arsenal eventually confirmed Nwaneri’s new deal with the club last week.
David Ornstein had broken the news that Nwaneri was signing scholarship terms, as well as agreeing to a professional deal for when he turns 17 next March, which is the earliest he can sign professional terms.
Nwaneri had major interest from other clubs, making him lucrative financial offers. But he never wanted to leave, as a lifelong Arsenal fan growing up in Islington.
The tide of opinion on Nwaneri’s future started to turn when the Evening Standard reported that Arsenal had made an attractive offer to Nwaneri, with Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta, and Edu all getting involved in talks.
The trio tried to map out Nwaneri’s path to the first team, and in the end, they succeeded in convincing him of his future at the club.
Nwaneri scored twice to help the u18s to reach the FA Youth Cup final this year, and he’s young enough that he could be involved again in the upcoming season.
The versatile midfielder featured on multiple occasions for the u21s, playing in eight of their final 14 games of the Premier League 2 season.
Then there was his first-team debut back in September, making him the youngest-ever Premier League player.
Arsenal clearly believe in Nwaneri, and he repaid their faith by committing himself to a new deal.
