It is easy to forget that Ethan Nwaneri is still just 18-years-old.

Right now he is not close to getting minutes at The Arsenal.

With Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Martinelli ahead of him, he is at best 7th in line. And then you take into account that Kai Havertz can play deeper, Gabriel Jesus outwide, and Mikel Merino and option, it will take a lot of injuries to see him get any serious play time.

Sitting on the bench and maybe getting 5-10 minutes in games which are done will do nothing for his development. At 18 it is perfectly normal for a player to go out on loan to get regular minutes.

We signed Martin Odegaard at 23 from Real Madrid. Odegaard was a wonderkid, signing for Madrid at 16, and making his debut not long after. It took him 4 loan deals to develop into the player he is today.

Nwaneri will be 23 in 5-years time. We need to allow him to continue to develop if we want him to read the level of an Odegaard. And regular game time is key to that – as it was with Odegaard who played over 100 games in 3 seasons on loan.

In 5-years time, Odegaard will be 32…

If Nwaneri continues to work hard and improve, there is a pathway to the first team. But we are now a different beast and to get into Arsenal’s first team you now need to be one of the best in the world in your position.

And if Nwaneri doesn’t develop as expected, or doesn’t want to wait for his chance, the door will be open for him to make his exit. And we will bank big money.

Great loan deal and good luck to him!

Keenos