During his first week as the Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta was promised that he had the ‘next Phil Foden’ at the club. It must have really served to lift his spirit in his initial difficult days at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta did not have a dream start to his tenure at Arsenal. He took up the position after the sacking of Freddie Ljungberg, in December 2019. From the very beginning, it was clear that filling in Arsene Wenger’s shoes was not going to be easy. But it was a challenge the former Gunner took up anyway.
Arteta’s time at Arsenal
The Spaniard hit rocky roads before even properly starting his journey at Arsenal. He struggled with earning the trust of the fans as there were early calls for him to be sacked when the team failed to show results. The FA Cup victory in 2020 brought some relief but that too was short-lived. There was a lot of work that had to be done at the club, to rebuild and take it back to what it was once.
The start of the 2021-22 Premier League season did not do much to help Arteta win the fans’ support. Fast-forward to two seasons later, those who did support him then and believed in his ‘Trusting the Process’, would be absolutely delighted to see where he is now.
The former Arsenal captain has managed to build one of the strongest teams in Europe over these 2 years. Arsenal are now amongst the strongest contenders for the Premier League title and some may even argue for them to be the favorites.
But what most people don’t know is that his influence is not only limited to the first team. Arteta seems to have made a close connection with the youth teams from the very beginning as well. He has maintained good relations with the academy coaches and players since joining the club. According to Express, it was during a conversation with the then U-16s coach, Dan Micciche, that Arteta found the ‘next Phil Foden’.
Arsenal’s ‘next Phil Foden’
This mystery youngster’s path to senior football glory was set up as early as in 2019. It was the incredibly talented midfielder, Ethan Nwaneri.
Despite being just 12 years old then, Nwaneri had made a place for himself in the under-16 side. He had gained the interest of the academy coaches and Arteta, who was keen on keeping track of his progress. Micciche revealed that Nwaneri’s biggest quality was his ability to make decisions on the pitch. This was one of the main reasons why he was getting pushed to play in the under-18s team as a 14-year-old. Moreover, it made him stand apart from the other players of his age.
Ethan Nwaneri went on to become Arsenal’s youngest-ever debutant at just 15 years old. He was called off the bench against Brentford in September 2022. Since then, he has been compared to the likes of other young talents like Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho.
Undoubtedly, many scouts might have their eyes on him, but he was built at Arsenal and will probably be there for at least a while longer. The young midfielder definitely has a long and studded career ahead of him.
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