Arsenal midfielder Ethan Nwaneri came off the bench in Arsenal’s 3-0 win at Brentford, aged just 15 years and 181 days old to become Premier League’s youngest player; Gunners boss Mikel Arteta on playing the teenager: “It was a pure gut feeling, I met the kid and I liked what I saw”


Mikel Arteta said a “gut feeling” led him to make Ethan Nwaneri the Premier League’s youngest player after he brought the 15-year-old on as a late substitute in the 3-0 win at Brentford.

The midfielder, aged just 15 years and 181 days old, took the Premier League record from Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott, who made his English top-flight bow for Fulham aged 16 years and 30 days in May 2019.

Nwaneri reportedly drew strong interest from a clutch of top Premier League clubs, including Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.

But Arsenal boss Arteta believes the young talent now has a chance to prove his prowess with the Gunners.

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“It was a pure gut feeling, I met the kid and I liked what I saw,” said Arteta.

“He has trained a couple of times with us and I had a feeling yesterday that if the opportunity came I would do it.


“But I think it sends a strong message about who we are as a club. I told him yesterday he would be with us and he had to be ready. He is ready. When he went on I said ‘congratulations and enjoy it.

“I don’t know what it is. When I met him, when I looked at him, I had that feeling.”