Hale End. Where do we start? It was the home of Jack Wilshere’s footballing education at Arsenal. It was home for Emile Smith Rowe during his formative years and of course, the playground where Bukayo Saka honed his skills.
It’s not a bad academy, is it? Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta, in particular, have been thankful for the work being done behind the scenes by the youth coaches, busy preparing the stars of tomorrow for first-team action.
Arteta has now given 12 debuts to Hale End starlets, with 16-year-old Jack Porter, and fellow teenagers Myles Lewis-Skelly and Josh Nichols the latest.
They were joined by teen talents Maldini Kacurri and Ismeal Kabia last week as the Gunners ran out 5-1 victors in the Carabao Cup against Bolton.
#1 Ethan Nwaneri
15 years, 5 months, 28 days
2022: Brentford
#2 Jack Porter
16 years, 2 months, 10 days
2024: Bolton Wanderers
#3 Cesc Fabregas
16 years, 5 months, 24 days
2003: Rotherham
#4 Jack Wilshere
16 years, 8 months, 12 days
2008: Blackburn
#5 Jermaine Pennant
16 years, 10 months, 15 days
1999: Middlesbrough
#6 Paul Vaessen
16 years, 11 months, 11 days
1978: Lokomotive Leipzig
#7 Ryan Smith
16 years, 11 months, 18 days
2003: Rotherham
#8 Gedion Zelalem
16 years, 11 months, 29 days
2014: Coventry
#9 Armand Traore
17 years, 16 days
2006: West Brom
It’s not been often that Arteta has been able to afford the stars of tomorrow game time but he has always rated one star particularly highly; that’s Ethan Nwaneri.
Ethan Nwaneri's breakout season in numbers
How good is this kid? Like seriously, just stop and think. We don’t like to create unnecessary amounts of hype surrounding a 17-year-old but he looks like the real deal already.
Unlike a whole host of talents who graduate from the Arsenal academy, he looks ready to make a real impact and has shown as much in the opening stages of the new season.
It feels like a while now since Nwaneri was given his first-team debut at the age of 15, becoming the youngest player in Premier League history in the process, but the teenager has been patient and is now brimming with confidence. He is certainly an important part of the first team.
Handed his first start for the senior team last week, the young prodigy was in quite some form, scoring twice against Bolton Wanderers.
Yes, it was only Bolton, but the way in which he took both of his goals was excellent. The first was laid to him on a plate by new signing Raheem Sterling and the second showed his supreme confidence. Declan Rice won the ball back, and played it to Nwaneri who then buried it beneath the goalkeeper. Job done.
Minutes
94
Touches
44
Goals
2
Passing Accuracy
26/28 (93%)
Key Passes
2
Long Balls (Accurate)
1 (1)
Shots on Target
2
Tackles
2
There were understandable cries for the attacking midfielder to start on Saturday against Leicester in the absence of Martin Odegaard but he was reduced to a role on the bench.
However, with the game heading towards a remarkable 2-2 draw, Nwaneri was introduced and made quite the impact.
Within moments he drove past several Leicester players with pace and unleashed a dipping, curling effort that produced a top-drawer save from Mads Hermansen who had a rather strong game himself. It was hardly a surprise to see him draw such strong praise from his manager at full-time.
So, it was a rather special cameo. There will no doubt be clamours for him to start against PSG. That is arguably too much at this stage but a conversation certainly ought to be had surrounding his involvement against Southampton next weekend.
There will also be a debate surrounding Hale End. Who’s their next best talent? Well, he’s 14 – yes 14 – and he’s a pretty special kid.
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast's In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.
Arsenal's next best talent after Nwaneri
It might not be too long before the name Max Dowman becomes a household name among Arsenal supporters.
Indeed, he is one of the finest young starlets in the Hale End academy right now and could soon be ready to challenge the likes of Nwaneri and Co for regular minutes in the first-team setup.
You may think we’re getting ahead of ourselves about such a young individual but we’re not the only ones. He’s already earned some phenomenal reviews.
He was hailed by scout Jacek Kulig as a “remarkable” star who’s “one of the craziest U15 talents” he has “ever seen”. Further praise came from David Ornstein, who said on a recent podcast that Dowman is an “absolutely outstanding talent, one of the best in the country.”
Fine words indeed. So, what makes him so great? Well, he’s already playing for the U18s and in the process has amassed six assists in nine games from an attacking midfield and right wing position.
Furthermore, the spritely teen recently became the youngest goalscorer in UEFA Youth League history a few weeks ago, scoring aged 14 years, eight months and 19 days.
In the process of doing so, he beat some pretty impressive talents to the top spot, a record that just underlines how impressive this gem is.
#1 Max Dowman
14 years, 8 months, 19 days
#2 Youssoufa Moukoko
14 years, 11 months, 3 days
#3 Rayan Cherki
15 years, 1 month, 2 days
#4 Naci Unuvar
15 years, 3 months, 6 days
#5 Sander Evjen-Brostrom
15 years, 4 months, 9 days
#6 Ryan Gravenberch
15 years, 4 months, 10 days
He’s blessed with a low sense of gravity and has the ability to drive forward with poise and purpose. In the clip below, you can see there’s a bit of Nwaneri to him as well, carrying the ball on his left and beating players for fun.
What might come of Dowman only time will tell, but his potential, given the age group he’s already playing at is immense. He’s right up there with Nwaneri – it’s now over to youth coach Jack Wilshere to help prepare him for first-team life.
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