West Ham are prone to come up short of their attempts to seal a January loan move for Ethan Nwaneri, with Arsenal reluctant to lose any of their senior squad at this important stage of the season.
Nwaneri burst out of Arsenal’s academy ranks to turn out to be the youngest ever player to feature in an English top-flight match back in 2022, aged just 15 years and 181 days old.
One other Premier League appearance followed midway through the 2023/24 campaign – nevertheless it was last season that Nwaneri well and truly established himself as a real first-team star.
Nwaneri made a complete of 29 appearances within the league, including 11 starts, while chipping in with a greater than respectable tally of 4 goals and two assists considering his tender years.
Nonetheless, the 18-year-old attacking midfielder has found regular playing time harder to return by this term and continues to be yet to make a single league start for top-of-the-table Arsenal, 21 games into the season.
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The England Under-21 international has been forced to bide his time for opportunities, limited largely to Arsenal’s cup competitions as a way to impress Mikel Arteta.
Based on football.london, relegation-threatened West Ham have identified Nwaneri as a possible loan choice to help boost their survival hopes within the second half of the season – but Arsenal have been quick to knock back interest from their London rivals.
It’s claimed the Gunners don’t deem a loan move to be ‘essential’ for Nwaneri’s development at this stage, which explains why the Hammers’ pursuit of the teenager has to date come to nothing.
Nwaneri has also attracted strong interest overseas and elsewhere within the Premier League, including from Bournemouth.
There may be said to be an ‘internal belief’ inside Arsenal’s hierarchy that losing players may destabilise the club’s title charge for his or her all-important run-in – and subsequently it’s ‘much more likely’ Nwaneri will remain on the Emirates.
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The report adds that while Nwaneri has been struggling for normal first-team motion, Arsenal bosses are confident the teenager is benefitting just by training alongside a lot of the most effective players within the country each day.
It was lower than six months ago that the Hale End academy product put pen to paper on a brand new cope with Arsenal, tying him to the club until June 2030.
Nwaneri was handed a rare start last weekend as Arsenal got here from behind to beat Portsmouth and book their spot within the fourth round of the FA Cup.
While Gabriel Martinelli stole much of the limelight along with his first senior hat-trick at Fratton Park, Nwaneri put in a high quality display and did his possibilities no harm by any means ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea.
‘He deserved that [chance],’ Arteta said of Nwaneri following his side’s 4-1 defeat of Portsmouth.
‘Due to strength of the squad and the players which are within the positions, he hasn’t been capable of play.
‘Today he’s done it and I believe he had some excellent minutes.’
Speaking exclusively to Metro, on behalf of GeckoPlay Casino, in November, ex-Arsenal defender Lauren suggested a loan switch could possibly be a ‘good option’ for Nwaneri.
‘To start with, kids should play to capable of develop and improve his qualities,’ he said.
‘We find out about his qualities. A young player must play if he’s to develop. At this moment of time, it’s very difficult for him to pop up into the team because there a top player now.
‘There are more good players within the last third so for him it’s tougher, and it’s the identical with Dowman.
‘It’s not a foul idea to go on loan after which to play the games that you could develop. Possibly he might come back. It’s not the top of the world.
‘I consider it could possibly be option for a teenager to maneuver along after which come back afterward.’
Would Nwaneri profit from being loaned out?
No, he should stay put!
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