have secured the long-term future of record holder Ethan Nwaneri.
After months of speculation, Nwaneri has now, according to , 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.
, comfortably beating the record previously held by Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott.
While Nwaneri made no further first team appearances, he enhanced his burgeoning reputation by making a strong and regular positive impressions for Arsenal’s under-18s, under-21 teams.
, but the player is reported to have never considered leaving his boyhood club and committed his immediate future to the Gunners.
Nwaneri is unlikely, however, to feature prominently in the first team next season, especially given the .
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, 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.’
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