Ethan Nwaneri has been nominated for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Young Player of the Year award.
In a statement on arsenal.com on Thursday, Nwaneri was nominated alongside teammate Myles Lewis-Skelly.
“Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly have been nominated in the top six for this year’s PFA Young Player of the Year for 2024/25.
“The pair enjoyed sparkling breakthrough seasons, with Ethan netting nine goals across all competitions and Myles receiving his first England call-up.
“We’ve seen recent success in this award, with Bukayo Saka picking up the honour in 2022/23 as well as being nominated in 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2023/24.
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“This year’s awards will be held at Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, August 19.”
Other players Nwaneri will battle with for the award are Liam Delap (formerly of Ipswich but now at Chelsea) Dean Huijsen (who has left Bournemouth for Real Madrid), Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth) and Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa).
Born in North London, Nwaneri joined the Arsenal Academy at the age of eight and made his Premier League debut against Brentford on 18 September 2022, becoming the youngest player to appear in the top flight of English football, at 15 years and 181 days old.
On 25 September 2024, Nwaneri scored his first senior goals when he netted a brace against Bolton Wanderers in the third round of the EFL Cup, helping the Gunners to a 5–1 victory.
He scored an outside-the-box shot against Preston North End in the following round and scored his first goal in the Premier League on 23 November in Arsenal’s 3–0 win home against Nottingham Forest after getting subbed on in the 82nd-minute. This made him the ninth-youngest goalscorer in the league’s history at 17 years, 247 days old.
On 4 January 2025, Nwaneri scored in a 1–1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion, becoming the third player to score at least five goals in a season before turning 18, following Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney.
Later that month, on 29 January, he netted his first UEFA Champions League goal, securing a 2–1 away win over Girona. Four days later, on 2 February, Nwaneri scored the fifth and final goal in a 5–1 win over Manchester City, curling in a stoppage-time strike from just outside the penalty box.
Nwaneri was named Man of the Match following his performance against Leicester City, where he hit the woodwork twice and provided an assist for Mikel Merino in the 2–0 victory.
