Ethan Nwaneri becomes the youngest-ever Premier League player at 15 years and 181 days as he comes off the bench in Arsenal’s victory over Brentford, breaking the record previously set by Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott by 214 days
- Arsenal have named 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri in the squad for Brentford clash
- The teenager was promoted to first-team training this week by boss Mikel Arteta
- He has already picked up four goals and four assists for both youth teams
- Nwaneri became the youngest-ever Premier League player when he came on
Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri becomes the youngest-ever Premier League player as he came off the bench in their 3-0 victory over Brentford.
The 15-year-old was brought off the bench in stoppage time to replace Fabio Vieira at the Brentford Community Stadium.
The teenager was promoted to first team training this week, with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta impressed by the midfielder’s appearances for the Under 21s this term.
Ethan Nwaneri, 15, became the youngest-ever Premier League player when he came on
The teenager came off the bench in stoppage time for the Gunners to replace Fabio Vieira
Nwaneri was a surprise name in the Arsenal Premier League squad to face Brentford
Nwaneri had been expected to spend the season with Arsenal Under 18s but he was quickly promoted to the Under 21s following his impressive performances.
He has already picked up four goals and four assists for both the Under 18s and 21s so far this season.
The teenager was then left out of the Under 21s draw with Wolves on Saturday as he was told he would be training with the first team ahead of their trip across London.
Nwaneri was not expected to feature off the bench, but the decision to include the youngster shows great recognition of his progress in the last 12 months, and in the end he was given his debut with Arsenal comfortably winning 3-0.
The teenager was promoted to first-team training this week after his impressive performances
Nwaneri’s impressive performances have caught the eye of Gunners boss Mikel Arteta
Nwaneri now holds the record of the youngest player to play in the history of the Premier League. Liverpool star Harvey Elliott was the youngest at the age of 16 years and 30 days when he was at Fulham.
Cesc Fabregas holds the all-time Arsenal record at the age of 16 years and 177 days when he played in a League Cup match against Rotherham in 2003.
The teenager has beaten both of those records by appearing for the Gunners in the 90th minute.
Match of the Day pundit Gary Lineker tweeted: ’15 year old Ethan Nwaneri has come on for @Arsenal. Thankfully it’s an early kick off so he can get his homework done after the game.’
His chance comes as Arsenal are without key players, including captain Martin Odegaard and left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko for the trip to west London.
Arsenal can climb back to the top of the Premier League with a win at Brentford, having seen Manchester City and Tottenham move ahead of them after both securing wins on Saturday.
The Gunners have won five of their first six league games this season and saw their 100 per cent start ended by Manchester United earlier in the month.
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