Ethan Nwaneri is reluctant to sign a new deal at Arsenal without guaranteed playing time, talkSPORT understands.Â
Nwaneri is into the final year of his Gunners contract and has interest from several top European clubs.
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The England Under-21 forward, who is the youngest player in Premier League history, scored four goals in 26 league appearances in the 2024/25 season.
Only 11 of those 26 league encounters saw him start with the 18-year-old battling the likes of Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard for a starting spot.
As well as several top clubs in the continent, Chelsea are also said to be monitoring Nwaneri‘s situation.
He’s made it clear he has ambitions to have a lasting impact on the game, saying he wants to win the Ballon d’Or.
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When asked if that meant he wanted to be a Ballon d’Or contender, the Gunners ace told talkSPORT: “100 per cent, yeah.
“That’s just the goal, but definitely. I’ve got that in the back of my mind.”
Nwaneri is a graduate of Arsenal‘s Hale End academy having been on their books since he was eight years old.
He came through the ranks alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly, who has become a regular fixture at left-back under Mikel Arteta.
Arteta opted to give Nwaneri a cameo first-team appearance at the start of the 2022/23 season, the youngster coming on during a 3-0 win at Brentford in September 2022.
Nwaneri became the Premier League’s youngest ever player at 15 years and 181 days old and also became the Gunners’ youngest ever player in any competition.
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He made one Premier League appearance in the 2023/24 season before fully making the jump to the first-team in 2024/25.
The London-born starlet made 37 appearances in all competitions, scoring nine goals in the process with four coming in the Premier League and two in the Champions League.
The pick of Nwaneri’s goals saw him curl in a beautiful effort from distance during Arsenal’s 5-1 shellacking of Manchester City in February.
Despite many successful results, the season ended without silverware for Arsenal as they came second in the league for a third successive campaign.
Meanwhile, they were knocked out of the semi-finals of both the Champions League and Carabao Cup and fell at the first hurdle in the FA Cup.
Nwaneri’s quest to become more of a first-team regular will be made harder if Arsenal complete the signing of Noni Madueke from Chelsea.
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talkSPORT understands Arsenal and the winger have agreed personal terms, although the north London club are yet to officially approach the England international’s current employers.
