Ethan Nwaneri closing on huge Premier League scoring record for Arsenal | OneFootball

Arsenal's 17-year-old starlet Ethan Nwaneri is two goals away from equalling the prodigious scoring record set by England legends Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney.

The aforementioned duo both racked up nine goals across all competitions before turning 18 while playing on opposite halves of Merseyside, a tally which no other legal child has ever been able to match while playing for a Premier League club. Nwaneri, however, has that target in his sights.

The diminutive forward is so light on his feet he would struggle to leave footprints in the snow, but he has certainly left his mark during a breakthrough year in the first team. After becoming the youngest player in Premier League history when he made his debut against Brentford in 2022 and coming on as a 15-year-old to chants of "He's got school in the morning", Nwaneri had to wait until September 2024 before scoring his first senior goals.

Bolton Wanderers shipped two Carabao Cup strikes to the 17-year-old before Preston North End were also treated to a first-hand demonstration of Nwaneri's ability to bend the ball with his left foot. It's already abundantly apparent what the teen will do - he is yet to take a single shot with his weaker right side - but stopping him has proven to be far more difficult. Can you have a signature move before you're allowed to vote?

Top U18 scorers for Premier League club across all competitions

Michael Owen (left) and Wayne Rooney both starred for England / Ben Radford/GettyImages

Statistics via The Athletic.

Nwaneri became Arsenal's second-youngest Premier League goalscorer with a late stinger against Nottingham Forest in November and he's also been on target on the continent, waltzing across the top of the box to pick out the bottom corner against Girona earlier this year.

No player had scored more than five goals in a single season for Arsenal before turning 18 since John Radford racked up eight in the 1964/65 campaign, per Opta.

There are still seven matches remaining for Nwaneri to score the two goals he needs to match the feats of Owen at Liverpool and Rooney during his days at Everton before turning 18 on 21 March. However, Mikel Arteta has been at pains to avoid overloading the winger who is five months younger than the Emirates Stadium.

"I am responsible for building a career for him," Arteta warned after Nwaneri scored his first Premier League goal. "You have to do that brick by brick. Today he put another brick. Now we have to put some cement, make sure it doesn't get dry so we can put another one and that will stick. Then we put one more layer, one more layer.

"If you want to put five bricks in a row, believe me, it won't work. We have to manage not only his expectation but his load as well, which is really important."