Ethan Nwaneri made headlines last Autumn when he came on as a 15-year-old for Arsenal. Nwaneri became the youngest player not only in Premier League history but in English top-flight history altogether. Now, he's playing academy football far above his own age level and is excelling with Arsenal Under 21s.
It's impressive enough as it is for a 16-year-old to be playing at Under 21 (U21) level at all. Nwaneri mostly featured for the U18s last season, but was promoted before the 2023/2024 campaign.
The move is already paying off. In just his second league game with the U21 side, Nwaneri bagged a hat-trick.
Arsenal's Premier League 2 side came from behind to thrash ten-man Leicester 4 - 1 last Friday night, with Nwaneri scoring three of the goals.
Nwaneri is by far the youngest player to score three times in the division all season, let alone net three times in the same game.
His composure and patience on the ball are more impressive than some current Premier League midfielders, and his attacking mindset makes him very dangerous to opponents.
Nwaneri clearly has an eye for goal, but that isn't the most exciting part of his game. Against Swindon Town in the Papa John's Trophy on Tuesday night, Nwaneri was a workhorse in the middle of the park.
To control the midfield against a team full of professional EFL players is quite something at his young age.
His confidence is unyielding, and the quality he can apply to his forward-thinking ideas is borderline frightening for someone with so little experience. Swindon Town named a strong side, but Nwaneri dominated the midfield for the Gunners.
Arsenal U21 manager Mehmet Ali has sung Nwaneri's praises after every game so far this season, and he isn't alone at Arsenal in terms of noticing the Englishman's talent.
Mikel Arteta brought Ethan Nwaneri to Germany for Arsenal's first pre-season camp of the Summer, where the 16-year-old came on as a second-half substitute against Nuremberg. Even with the first team, Nwaneri stood out with immaculate ball control, helping Arsenal to dominate the match.
Arteta is so impressed with the youngest-ever Premier League player that he's cautious about allowing him to leave even on loan. Of course, the Gunners don't have to include a buy option in any potential deal, but it could be dangerous to tempt Nwaneri with first-team football away from the Emirates.
After the Papa John's Trophy game at Swindon, Mehmet Ali spoke about how much he loves the competiton and how important it is for the the academy players to face clinical punishment for "silly errors," underlining his intention to keep all of his U21 players right where they are.
Of course there are positives to playing every week for an EFL side. The experience of playing with full-time professionals is fantastic, and as much as academy division titles are real achievements, it means something different altogether to fight for promotion out of League Two for example.
But Arsenal U21 outclassed Swindon on Tuesday, showing that perhaps with a few more weeks of playing together, they'd be stronger than a lot of League Two sides.
The other added benefit of staying with the academy side is the potential first-team call-ups. Nwaneri may well be playing a lot of Premier League 2 football if he doesn't go out on loan, but he'll also find himself playing Carabao Cup ties and perhaps a deadweight Matchday Six game in the Champions League. Injuries may even open the door back into the Premier League side.
Nwaneri is an Arsenal player and that isn't likely to change in the next few years. Mehmet Ali will be desperate for the Gunners to hold onto him, not only for the first-team opportunities but because he is such as crucial part of the U21 team already.
Generational talents are a little more common at London Colney than they are at most other training facilities in the Premier League and Arsenal have a proven track record of taking them through to the Premier League. Bukayo Saka, Jack Wilshere and Tony Adams are just a few to have risen through the ranks all the way to the top flight.
Ethan Nwaneri has an exciting career ahead of him and the Gunners will do everything they can to make sure it all takes place at the Emirates.