Arsenal and England U21 youngster Ethan Nwaneri on Saka’s influence, his breakthrough season, and where he can still improve | OneFootball

Arsenal and England U21 youngster Ethan Nwaneri says club team-mate Bukayo Saka has been a big influence on helping him to break into the Gunners first team.

Injury problems, including for Saka, presented Nwaneri with a big chance in the Gunners first team this past season and he took it with both hands, playing 37 times in all competitions and scoring nine goals.

The 18-year-old will travel to Slovakia with the England U21s this month and reflecting on his breakthrough campaign, the forward praised team-mate Saka.

“Bukayo is a great person and he’s an even better player,” he said.

“Honestly, there’s so much I can learn. Our relationship is more of a friendship, it’s more jokey, like we don’t really have a lot of deep conversations because I think Bukayo is a player you just need to watch to learn from and take from his game.

“He’s helped me so much in that aspect. He’s really big on body language and the way that he presents himself and he puts that on to me. Like before, maybe just the way I’d walk or I’d slouch a bit or the way I’d be sitting, but he’s on to everything and that’s helped me sharpen up in the mind and it’s helped me a lot.”

Nwaneri also hailed Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for his guidance, saying: “There’s a lot to learn from Mikel.

“If you’ve ever met him you’d see how intense he is, and how he’s so good with his words and knows what he’s saying.

“I think there’s so much, not even just tactically and technically, mentally and all that. On a personal level as well, I think he’s helped me a lot.

“He’s elevated my game definitely.”

The Hale End academy graduate also vowed that there is much more to come from him and hopes next season will be a big one from him too.

“At the end of each season, before each season, I can kind of see where I’m going to be at the end of the season,” he said.

“I’ve always had that ability to visualise and see where I’m going to be and put my mind towards it.

“I wasn’t really surprised but now it’s about the next step and what I need to do to get to where I really want to.

“There’s loads of stuff that I can add to my game. The defensive side, my physical capacity, there’s loads of stuff I can work on in my game. That’s what I’m going to get to work on hopefully after we’ve won a tournament during pre-season.”

And Nwaneri is hoping to cap off a memorable first season of playing regularly in the Arsenal first team by helping his side to win the European Championship.

“It’s another major tournament at youth level, all these tournament I enjoy and it’s an opportunity to show myself to the world.”