Chelsea are keen on signing 15-year-old Arsenal prodigy Ethan Nwaneri as part of their long-term vision for the club.
According to football.london, Chelsea are planning on signing a raft of youngsters from other English clubs’ academies, with Ethan Nwaneri also present on the list. The 15-year-old Arsenal prodigy is understandably an attractive target, although there may be difficulties in tempting him to leave the Gunners.
Chelsea plan to keep their Cobham academy busy and create talents that would achieve success to varying degrees. The idea is to have future first teams with a minimum number of stars coming outside the academy, and the Blues want to start the work now.
The idea is being coined as Vision 2030. According to the report, some recent signings of young players from other academies signalled the project’s beginning. Carney Chkukwuemeka’s arrival from Aston Villa in the summer and the signing of promising youngster Omari Hutchinson from Arsenal are a few of the instances, with plenty more left on Chelsea’s long, drawn-out list.
Among those is exciting 15-year-old Arsenal prodigy Ethan Nwaneri. The youngster rose to prominence after he became the youngest-ever player to debut in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta chose to bring the academy prospect for the final minute of the win away to Brentford.
The Arsenal manager was criticised and praised equally for his bold decision. Nwaneri, however, has not come anywhere near the Gunners’ first team setup since. But he continues to progress in the youth setup while also featuring for Arteta’s side during the recent Dubai trip.
Since Nwaneri featured in the Premier League, many clubs have shown interest in the 15-year-old Arsenal prodigy. Those include Chelsea, and the Blues are already planning to make an effort to sign the youngster. They have already reached an agreement with Molde for young striker David Datro Fofana and continue to march on towards signing exciting young players.
The shock signing of Hutchinson may have given Chelsea plenty of hope to target other academy starlets from Arsenal. The Gunners, however, remain confident of keeping hold of the 15-year-old prodigy, although he is yet to sign professional terms with the north Londoners.
If they lose Nwaneri to Chelsea, it will not be a good sign for the Arsenal academy and their head, Per Mertesacker. Hence, Arteta is expected to let the teenager feature at times with the first team, and the club will offer him good terms to keep him here for the foreseeable future.
