'He doesn't really care about the boy' - Arteta makes critics eat words after crazy Arsenal goal

Mikel Arteta faced criticism following the debut given to then-15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri when he became the youngest-ever Premier League player against Brentford in 2022. On Wednesday night, he would start as a now-17-year-old player, matured and with experience already at such a young age to score a crazily good goal at Preston North End.

The stock of Nwaneri is naturally at an all-time high, but it was never guaranteed it would be this way. After the debut against Brentford, Jason Cundy took to talkSPORT to bash Arteta’s decision and make a startling claim that the Spaniard did not even care about the player.

"There is a big but coming. I'm sorry. I think that's a really poor decision because it's about [Mikel] Arteta," he said. "It's all about Arteta.

"The manager who played the youngest ever player in the Premier League is me. I think that's self-indulgent.

"When he [Nwaneri] was warming up and coming on, I'm thinking 'this is ridiculous'. This has got nothing to do with the kid.

"This is all about Arteta, all about him. Self-indulgent, look what I've done. Arteta doesn't really care about the boy."

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Mikel Arteta speaking after the game and explained his reasons why he gave Nwaneri the debut. It was evident that the feeling surrounding the talent has been the same way for a very long time.

"It was a feeling that I had yesterday, I don't know why," Arteta told us at full-time.

"The first day I met him I looked him in his eyes and everyone was telling me about him, Per was telling me about him, and because of the injuries we only have 12 or 13 senior players yesterday to put in the squad and we decided to bring him, and that's it."

Since then, fans have called to see more of Nwaneri and, with Martin Odegaard out, there has been criticism of Arteta that he has not used the youngster more often. Starts against Bolton and now Preston have sandwiched spritely Premier League cameos as he builds towards a first start in England's top flight.

Nwaneri signed a professional deal with the club despite interest from other top clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool. The debut and subsequent appearances were to showcase the pathway that exists and convince the teenager that he will get opportunities under Arteta.

Having previously been scrutinised for not giving enough debuts to young players, Arteta has now given seven debuts already this season. Jack Porter, Tommy Setford, Maldini Kacurri, Josh Nichols, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ismael Kabia.

This trend will only continue as Arsenal further establish themselves as an elite, title-challenging side. The luxury to give young players minutes grows only further when this state is reached, as Man City have enjoyed for years; now it is Arsenal's turn.

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