Will Nwaneri’s potential bumber new contract be a mistake by the club.
The recent success we’ve been enjoying in the past few years has been no coincidence, it has been as a result of meticulous planning and a 100% commitment from the club to make things right. This entails making minor changes to how we were previously run and one of these minor tweaks the club has made in recent times has been managing the wage bill sensibly, this was a major problem for us in the late 2010s and early 2020s due the to how we kept a ridiculously high wage bill without the added financial boost of European football. We had players like Ozil and later Aubameyang receiving eye watering wages towards the end of their careers which only contributed negatively to our wage bill, the thing that affected us the most with those deals was how their performances dipped as soon as we handed them bumber new deals.
Arsenal have seemed to learn from that now with the club managing to trim the wage bill considerably over the past few years by cleverly moving fringe players on, and offering more conservative wage packages to new signings, which was why I was very shocked to see rumors circulating recently about the details of a new deal for Ethan Nwaneri.
One particular source in particular Transfersdotcom reported that Nwaneri is set to become the third highest paid teenager in the Premier League with the 17-year-old set to be offered a new five year deal with wages of around £60,000 a week, the report went on to say that the Gunners are doing this to fend off outside interest in the talented teenager.
If this is true it might potentially be a mistake by the club given our past struggles with players underperforming after getting improved termst, also I think the wages might be too much for a player who’s yet to even make his full debut with the club. I understand the importance of tying down talents quickly but most gooners will agree that it might just be too much too quickly for the youngster.
Thoughts gooners?
KENNETH BENJAMIN.
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Sigh, this is bad but not as bad as putting Nketiah on £100k-a-week. That said, let us not forget even young Pogba was in a similar situation with Man utd and they chose to cheap out rather than tie him down. Eventually they had to buy him back for £90M, stupid money.
Also better than awarding same amount to El Neny who played only 150 games in all competitions after serving 8yrs at the club mostly on the bench.
Its quite obvious, a mistake. At such a tender age, the board ought to be very pragmatic in financial dealings with our youth players.
Agreed we recently lost a very promising player to Man United. I still think we should use true values to keep them rather than rushed financial incentives.
How was that bad?
If he had not signed that cobtract he could have left on a free
Instead, he stayed two years and we sold him for £25 million
60,000 a week will look cheap as chips 2 years from now when he still has 3 years to go on the contract. I like what we have seen from him, and I trust the decision to give him this contract. Hope we will start to see more of him in the near future.
Well, possibly. Evidently, Arsenal really liked what they saw of Jesus when they decided to sign him on a 5-year contract at around £14m a year. That probably doesn’t look as good a piece of business now though.
At least with Nwaneri there’s an opportunity to get more evidence before making a decision. I think we should wait and see how he develops for a little longer.
Think Jesús is a poor example, one could argue he has done what he was brought to do , take us where are now, am trying not to use the word phase.
Further to that he’s an established international plays for probably the greatest football country on earth, don’t forget he’s only 27 still in his prime, you would agree?
And you know what they say about class.
But part of the process is about investing in young highly technical youngsters with high ceiling,
Jesus was brought in as a five year “investment” if you like because that was the length of contract he was awarded – the longest that’s usually given (outside of Chelsea anyway).
Arsenal is now faced with the prospect of paying him about £40m to summer 2027 for doing not a lot if we’re honest. If this is his “prime” then that’s an even bigger question mark, surely.
Back to Nwaneri, I’m all for investing in “young highly technical youngsters with high ceiling” as you say. The big point though is that there’s no need to sign Nwaneri to a new, bumper, contract immediately. Unlike Jesus, we can wait and see for a while at least.
Nwaneri signed a three year deal in March when he turned 17 and three years is the maximum length of contract for a lad that age. He can only sign a longer contract when he turns 18 in five months time and there is a lot of football to be played before then. If he keeps progressing as he does then £60 000 a week may seem cheap.
Damned either way. However, 60K is manageable, it’s the next upgrade that is crucial but hopefully by then he’ll have shown more of what is to come.
Some of the mega deals were handed to players at the other end of their careers.
£60k, or £3m, is stuff all – imagine the transfer fee plus wages of a replacement should we lose Nwaneri????
and so many on here criticised Arsenal for letting Obi leave and sign for Man Utd…. its quite clear those people just cant help moaning all the time !
Nwaneri is touted by all as a rare talent and already had some great moments…. seems very sensible to not lose all that investment in him !
It’s a pretty big contract on relatively (stress, relatively) little evidence so far.
Yes, he looks to be a very good, young, player but don’t we need to see a little more from him on a regular basis? There’s time to do that – it’s not as though clubs will come along next month and “steal” him away from Arsenal. If he continues as he’s started, then by all means give him a new contract.
“it’s not as though clubs will come along next month and “steal” him away from Arsenal”
Chelsea will 100k a week for him. Better close the deal with him.
Didn’t MAN Ure steal on e of our bright prospects recently?
Yes, but he was a free agent when Utd signed him, wasn’t he?
Yes he was Bertie. He refused to sign a new scholarship with us and signed a scholarship with Man Utd.
I think most Gooners would agree that you don’t see what the club see in training every day, so you’re not really qualified to comment.
Hasn’t Arteta worked it out yet, it’s not so much the amount of money you throw at these young kids now, it’s giving them more minutes in the first team. They need to see a way forward which is something that seems to have escaped Arteta. Has he not noticed that some of our most talented youngsters have left because they cannot see a path going forward. He thinks sitting them on the bench week after week is good enough, it’s not. Last season he had 4 of our best youngsters on the bench for weeks without giving them a minute. In fact in one game where we were leading 6.0 with 20 minutes to play he left them all on the bench and brought on Cedric & Elneny both of whom were leaving at the end of the season. No wonder they leave. Why isn’t Nwaneri getting more time, Odegaard is out for a long period, in the cameos that Nwaneri has been afforded he has shown that he is a natural replacement for Odegaard. He is talented, has a lot of confidence, not knocked off ball easily &best of all is naturally left footed. Only thing he lacks is experience & he won’.t get that until he is starting games
No “some of our best youngsters” have not left because they cannot see a path forward. Ones we don’t want to keep have left, and in the case of the most recent, purely for money.
I agree, and if he did blood them and we lose he’d be condemned for that. I’m entirely happy with Arteta.
I expect Nwaneri will be well blooded this season and he will blossom next season to show that it is not purely hype and hope about his potential. I have really been impressed by his cameos thus far, he looks like the real deal. Lock him in.
Think it’s the step in the right direction in handling the kid.
There is a clear pattern now at Arsenal of how talent are acquired and handled
Can you explain that “clear pattern” to me Gunsmoke, bearing in mind the youngsters we have lost, the size of contracts awarded and the players we have signed and / or missed out on?
Thanks.
best Arsenal academy product since Saka, every single time he sets foot on the pitch he looks like he belongs there, hard to think how more impressive a 17 year old could be – £60k a week is a snip, Arsenal have a gem on our hands and taking the right steps to secure him long term
60m seems about right to me it’s a lot of money but it’s manageable If he succeeds he will be on a lot more than that and I believe our guys have seen enough of him in training to get the sum about right
I wouldn’t describe £60kpw a snip at 17/18 years of age and it’s worth comparing what ESR was earning prior to his transfer- something in the region of £45kpw.
Comparisons have been made with Jesus but at the time he was heralded and looked to be the real deal with a strong history behind him. Nwaneri on the other hand has yet to prove himself. This isn’t to suggest he’s not good enough but to point out that it’s early days although I’ll readily agree he’s looking very promising indeed
Arsenal have nurtured him and he must be self aware enough to realise that a great career is in the offing. He needs patience, coupled with Arteta giving him an opportunity to shine more regularly as a substitute (with more than 5 minutes remaining on the clock).
There will be plenty of time for the seriously big money to come his way. The likes of Saka have shown incredible maturity and EN would do well to follow his example
It may seem like too much to soon but we all know that the Kings road chavs will pay him that in a heartbeat they do not do any talent spotting they just steal others and 5 yrs is a good length gives us time to and if he sparkles then its win win.
Well it might look like a rushing but the little we have seen of ethan nwaneri is really convincing, the hype about him has been there for long down in the academy. dnt quote me wrong but i think that has to do with “consistency” and that is the best overall characteristic of a world class beater. Nwaneri’s only issue is Arteta to give him more minutes and starts in lousy matches but on my side i think nwaneri has it in his DNA he’s really a talent and that money will be a junior elementry student’s pocket change once he’s established just like rice’s fee