Nwaneri signs a professional contract, now the challenge begins …

Morning.

As we wait for Mikel Arteta’s press conference later on, the build-up to Sunday’s game starts in earnest now. It will be somewhat all encompassing this weekend. Whatever else you’re doing, however distracted you get, your mind is always going to swerve back to 4.30 on Sunday afternoon (or your equivalent local time).

My press conference predictions. When it comes to injuries, Mikel Arteta will say something along the lines of ‘We have a few doubts, but we’ll have to wait and see how they are tomorrow. We have another session so hopefully they can make it.’

There will be questions about Mikel and Pep, and maybe Pep and Mikel, and despite the fact he’s been asked how much he learned working alongside Guardiola, he will be asked how much he learned working alongside Guardiola. Beyond that, it will be about the ‘beautiful challenge’ we face in Sunday’s game and how good Man City are, but let’s see what emerges.

Meanwhile, away from all that, Ethan Nwaneri turned 17 last week, thus enabling him to put pen to paper on his first professional contract with the club. It wasn’t always a sure thing, because he had offers from elsewhere. It’s quite interesting to note that recent reports have suggested Arsenal are going to spend a bit of money recruiting young players from other clubs. We’ve already signed defender Brayden Clarke from Wolves, and 15 year old Ceadach O’Neill, a Northern Ireland youth international who has come in from Linfield.

But this is essentially what other clubs tried to do with Nwaneri, not least Man City who have been operating in this way for some time, and have deep pockets to incentivise players and, crucially, parents. Nwaneri’s Arsenal debut as a 15 year old at the end of a 3-0 win over Brentford in 2022 was certainly tactical in part from the club. He might have been on the bench because of some injuries, but it was also a way of convincing him the pathway was there. He got some playing time again at the…

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Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-03-29 07:30:12

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