Arteta hints at giving minutes to Nwaneri in friendly with Liverpool after impressive display v Man Utd

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has hinted at giving more game time to England youth international of Nigerian descent, Ethan Nwaneri in his side's upcoming friendly with Liverpool after his impressive performance during the 2-1 win versus Manchester United on Sunday morning.

The Gunners beat their Premier League rivals thanks to goals from Brazilian forwards Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli, after Rasmus Hojlund had opened the scoring for the Red Devils, who won the post-game shootout 4-3.

Jesus profited from a delightful pass from Nwaneri in the 26th minute, tapping home to bring the game back to parity. 

The Premier League's youngest-ever player in history held his own against older and more experienced United players such as Harry Maguire, Casemiro and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Nwaneri started Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Bournemouth in their first pre-season game in the United States and retained his place in the starting lineup against Manchester United, taking his total minutes in pre-season to 129 minutes. 

Arteta has vowed to field the Anglo-Nigerian wonderkid against Liverpool on Wednesday, July 31 at Lincoln Financial Field, if he continues to impress in training.

When asked about his plan for Nwaneri in the forthcoming season, the Spanish football tactician was quoted as saying by Arsenal's official webpage: "It’s always in the hands of the players, so show what you can do. Show that ambition, that determination, that quality and things will happen naturally.

"Tomorrow he’s going to train with us again and if he continues to play like that he’s going to play some minutes on Wednesday for sure."

Arsenal fullback Josh Nichols and Manchester United midfielder Maxi Oyedele came off the bench in the second half during the friendly held at the SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California). 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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