Jack Wilshere hails ‘unplayable’ Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri after scoring nine-minute brace

Jack Wilshere has hailed Arsenal midfielder Ethan Nwaneri as ‘unplayable’ as the 15-year-old continues to impress in the Gunners’ academy.

The promising young midfielder helped Wilshere’s U18 side rescue a 3-3 draw against Manchester United on Saturday, scoring a brace of goals to help his team come back from going a goal down in the U18 Premier League Cup. 

Earlier this season made history becoming the youngest player to appear in the Premier League, during a 3-0 win at Brentford. 

Nwaneri (pictured) scored twice in Arsenal U18s 3-3 Premier League Cup draw vs Man United 

Wilshere, now in charge of the U18’s side, knows quality talent when he sees it, having risen through the ranks at London Colney to make his first senior debut for the Gunners when he was a mere 16-years-old, making him the club’s youngest player at the time.

And after an excellent performance, with Nwaneri scoring a brace of goals in just nine minutes, his manager took time to praise the young star after the match, noting how much quality he possesses. 

Wilshere (pictured) who is in charge of the U18s lumped praise on young star’s performance

Before Cesc Fabregas, Wilshere had held the record of being Arsenal’s youngest players 

‘In the first half, he tried to find the spaces, playing in people’s backs and creating space for himself, and we couldn’t find him a little bit,’ Wilshere said. 

‘In the second half, he was very good. He was unplayable at times. He had a few good moments. In the second half a lot of players stepped up a level, we found some more space.

Nwaneri (left) made his Premier League debut earlier this season vs Brentford at 15-years-old

‘We spoke to them a little bit at halftime about few tactical things which allowed Ethan to free up. We had a really good balance in the team and Ethan was good in the second half.’

Arsenal went a goal down in the opening 10 minutes, but soon levelled, with captain Bradley Ibrahim scoring from the spot.

A neat finish from Nwaneri, saw the Gunners take a 2-1 lead away from home, and he was back to drive home another powerful strike less than 10 minutes later. 

The young midfielder has a bright future ahead of him in the Arsenal and England set ups

While United found a last minute equaliser to halve the spoils, it’s clear that the young midfielder is quickly becoming a hot prospect in the Arsenal ranks, following in the footsteps of his coach, who went on to make 198 appearances for the club but unfortunately had to retire this year at the age of 30. 

Nwaneri, meanwhile, has been gaining a lot of experience with different age groups in the Arsenal academy having featured in the Premier League 2, EFL Cup and scoring two goals for Arsenal U18s this season.

The midfielder is also progressing above his age in the England youth set-up having now earnt six caps for the England U17 side, scoring three goals for Ryan Garry’s young Lions.