It has been the case at Arsenal for as long as staff can remember - if you are talking about Ethan Nwaneri, then you have to mention Myles Lewis-Skelly.
The teenagers have risen through the Arsenal academy together and are now fulfilling the potential that many coaches saw in them.
Both players have had minutes in the Premier League this season. Lewis-Skelly has also played in the Champions League and they should both make their second starts for Arsenal when the Gunners travel to Preston in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
For Dan Micciche, who coached the pair at youth level with Arsenal, their progress is no surprise and he believes this is just the start.
“I have been aware of them since 2019, when they were in the Under-12s,” Micciche tells Standard Sport.
“There were names you always heard about, but what was interesting is that you always heard about them as a pair. It has generally been like Ethan and Myles are spoken about as one.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they both made their senior debut for England in the same game, because honestly their journeys have literally gone parallel.”
It was actually at Chelsea where Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly first crossed paths, before both joining the Arsenal academy at Under-9 level.
Their talent quickly became clear to coaches, as did the pair’s understanding of each other’s games. Lewis-Skelly liked to play deep in midfield, with Nwaneri further forward, and they formed a devastating partnership.
Crucially, their ability also drove each other on and made them better players.
“That’s what they said about the Class of ’92 with Eric Harrison,” says Micciche. “The quote was they pulled each other by the bootlaces and that they drove each other on. We shouldn’t underestimate that in player development.”
The challenge for Arsenal was nurturing two players that looked set to be the jewels of their academy. Clubs can wait years for future stars and the Gunners suddenly had two players in the same age group.
Head of academy coaching Luke Hobbs worked on a games programme for the pair, deciding what age groups and tournaments they should play in.
When Micciche was in charge of Arsenal’s U16s, Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly played for him despite being in the U14s.
“They were good enough to play up two years, which is unusual and not common,” he says. “Then when I became the Under-18 head coach, they needed that progression again and I would say they outgrew it by the end of the season - and they were only Under-15s.”
Nwaneri made his Premier League debut when he was just 15, becoming the youngest player in the competition’s history. Now 17, he has integrated well into the first-team setup.
The same goes for Lewis-Skelly, who made his debut at Manchester City last month. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has been key to that. The Norwegian, more than anyone else, knows what it is like to be a teenager moving into a big senior environment, having done so at Real Madrid.
As a result, Odegaard has made a point of welcoming the youngsters into the group and ensuring they do not feel left out as they get used to new surroundings.
The pair certainly don’t look out of the place on the pitch. Lewis-Skelly has come on in both the previous two games at left-back, despite the fit-again Oleksandr Zinchenko being on the bench. The 18-year-old was a midfielder at youth level, but Arteta and his staff see potential in him as a left-back.
“It has surprised me, but I guess that shows the quality of the manager to see that,” says Micciche.
“He wouldn’t have played there very often, but this is getting him on the pitch and it’s good for his development to be versatile. But did I see him playing left-back? No. Am I surprised he has adapted? No, because he would have done everything and prepared properly for that role.”
Nwaneri has impressed in the midfield slot usually occupied by Odegaard, scoring twice on his full debut against Bolton last month. He has looked electric in his cameos off the bench, playing with a swagger that suggest he is not feeling the pressure.
“I think sometimes people can misunderstand confidence with arrogance,” says Micciche. “What Ethan and Myles had was that eye of the tiger, they had that look in their eyes that whenever they came through the building, they were there to work.
“They thought: ‘How are we going to get better?’ Credit needs to go to their families because it is not easy for these boys to stay humble.”
Many at Arsenal echo Micciche’s observations about Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri being grounded. That is despite Lewis-Skelly being approached for boot deals when he was 12 and Nwaneri becoming the youngest player in Premier League history.
Their hunger to get better has not faded and that is one of the reasons Arteta is so excited for the future.
“Those two are really pushy and demanding,” says Micciche. “They want to see everything. They want more and more information.
“They love it and you can tell they are so passionate about it. They see the opportunity and want to grab it with both hands. They are great to work with.”
