Alex Howell
Sport football news reporter
Published
16 June 2025
Ethan Nwaneri is currently representing England at the European Under-21 Championship in Slovakia after a breakout season at Arsenal. Nwaneri made an impressive substitute appearance in the Young Lions' opening game against Slovakia, immediately putting the ball through the legs of a defender and starting an England attack.
Head coach Lee Carsley and the England set-up have been careful with how they have used Nwaneri so far during the tournament.
That is because the 18-year-old, who played a lot of football at the beginning and mid-point of the season, featured less as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard returned to full fitness.
However, Nwaneri still made 37 appearances for the Gunners, scoring nine goals.
For the second match in the group against Slovenia, Carsley started Nwaneri on the left of his 4-2-2-2 formation, with Harvey Elliott on the right and strikers James McAtee and Jonathan Rowe. Nwaneri's natural position is more central, but he has excelled for Arsenal on the right, filling in for Saka when he was injured.
He grew into the game against Slovenia but his best moments came in the second half when he did shift to the right side and linked well with Elliott.
Nwaneri beat a player to get into his "trademark" position, where he curls the ball into the far corner from the edge of the box, but this time his effort went over the bar. Saka is Arsenal's key player and Odegaard the captain, so next season, if he is able to play from the left, that could be a route for Nwaneri to continue his progression and get significant minutes for Mikel Arteta's side.
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