Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri makes key decision amid Chelsea interest | Football

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After months of speculation, Nwaneri has now, according to The Athletic, signed scholarship forms with the Gunners and agreed terms on a professional contract that he will be eligible to sign once he turns 17.

The teenager shot to prominence last season when he was handed his senior debut by Mikel Arteta as a last minute substitute in a 3-0 win over Brentford.

In doing so, Nwaneri became the youngest player in Premier League history at just 15 years and 181 days old, comfortably beating the record previously held by Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott.

Nwaneri is unlikely, however, to feature prominently in the first team next season, especially given the impending arrival of Declan Rice from West Ham.

After seeing two bids rejected earlier this month, Arsenal have now finally agreed a deal in principle with their east London rivals and the summer’s longest running transfer saga is heading towards its conclusion.

Arsenal, meanwhile, confirmed the signing of Germany international Kai Havertz in a £65m deal on Wednesday and Arteta hinted that the former Chelsea forward will feature in a new-look midfield role.

‘Kai is a player of top quality,’ said Arteta. ‘He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play.

‘We welcome Kai and his family to Arsenal Football Club and we are all excited to start working with him when we start pre-season training soon.’

MORE : Arsenal filmed Kai Havertz announcement video at wedding of Chelsea star Kepa Arrizabalaga

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