Ethan Nwaneri will not leave Arsenal this summer - despite interest from Premier League rivals Manchester City and Chelsea.
Nwaneri, 16, hit the headlines in September when he came off the bench during Arsenal's 3-0 win at Brentford to become the Premier League's youngest ever player, aged 15 years and 181 days old. Mikel Arteta described him as a "big talent" at the time.
The teenage midfielder's schoolboy registration is due to expire on June 30, but Mirror Football understands he will commit his future to Arsenal. He will sign scholarship forms before putting pen to paper on a professional deal when he turns 17 in March next year.
Nwaneri is an attacking midfielder by trade but can also play on the wing. He scored four goals and provided three assists in the U18 Premier League last season and also made appearances in the FA Youth Cup (scoring twice), Premier League 2 and the EFL Trophy.
Nwaneri has not made Arteta's bench since his cameo against Brentford, but it's clear the Gunners boss is a huge fan of the emerging star. "We have the opportunities to bring young players on," said Arteta when asked why he played Nwaneri in September.
"We are pretty short and opportunities come when issues arise. It was a pure gut feeling. I met the boy, I really liked what I saw. He trained with us a couple of times. I had that feeling yesterday that if the opportunity could come, I would do it. He deserves it. He has been doing great. He is such a big talent we want to keep with us."
Although Nwaneri's first-team opportunities have been limited, he often trains with Arteta's squad and joined the likes of Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Magalhaes and Kieran Tierney in Dubai for a mid-season training camp while the World Cup took place in Qatar.
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Nwaneri is a boyhood Arsenal fan and grew up in Islington, which is just around the corner from the Emirates. It's believed the player was not seriously considering leaving Arsenal, but that didn't stop Man City and Chelsea from keeping a close eye on him.
Arsenal's academy manager Per Mertesacker, sporting director Edu and Arteta have all played roles in persuading Nwaneri to commit his future to the club. The fact he's played first-team football at such a young age shows how highly rated he is.
Arsenal would've been due compensation at a tribunal hearing if Nwaneri decided to continue his career at Stamford Bridge or the Etihad.
Arteta added Nwaneri to his squad for the Brentford game to "experience how it is to be in the hotel, to do a preparation of the game, to be around the boys". Yet the Arsenal boss reminded Nwaneri: "In your career all the steps are not going to be forward".
Arteta added: "All the decisions that we take and that I take are for the club. It's not for me, it's not for the player, it's because we believe that he has a talent that has to be developed incredibly in the next two or three years.
"We will see how we manage that but the boy will dictate. Normally it's not us, normally the players tell you and demand of you how far you can go on that."
