Ethan Nwaneri may be only 18, but he’s already got his sights set on football’s greatest individual prize.
The Arsenal prodigy made his Premier League debut aged 15 and 181 days in September 2022 but properly made his mark throughout the 2024/25 campaign.
Despite his youthful exuberance, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta felt Nwaneri was more than prepared to take on greater responsibility and he rose to the role with aplomb.
The teen finished the term with nine goals and two assists from 37 appearances across all competitions, an impressive haul given he played two senior matches prior to the 2024/25 season.
It appears the sky is the limit for Nwaneri and he certainly believes just as much.
Speaking to talkSPORT’s Ian ‘Moose’ Abrahams, Nwaneri outlined his five-year goal is to ‘be one of the top three best players in the world’.
When asked if that meant he wanted to be a Ballon d’Or contender, the Gunners ace replied: “100 per cent, yeah.
“That’s just the goal, but definitely. I’ve got that in the back of my mind.”
Nwaneri won’t be short of competition if he is to achieve his lofty ambition.
Lamine Yamal, Barcelona‘s starlet, is a year younger than Nwaneri but proved he belongs at senior level with 22 goal contributions for the Spanish giants in LaLiga.
He also has 21 caps for Spain while Nwaneri is yet to be capped at senior international level.
There’s also 20-year-old French winger Desire Doue, who registered a stunning 31 goal contributions across all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain.
Yamal has 127 senior appearances for club and country under his belt at the age of 17GettyFactor in the likes of Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior all aged 26 or under and Nwaneri’s dream becomes remarkably difficult.
But CJ Egan-Riley, one of Nwaneri’s England Under-21 teammates, believes there’s no reason why the Arsenal teenager can’t achieve his goal.
In fact, Egan-Riley ‘wouldn’t really be surprised’ if Nwaneri becomes the first Englishman since Michael Owen in 2001 to win football’s greatest individual prize.
“The last camp that we came on, for me, he was the best player,” Egan-Riley told talkSPORT.
“From the first day when I saw him in training, I was like, ‘He’s special’.
“Of course, there’ so, so many good players there, but considering he’s just turned 18 and it’s an under-21s tournament and he’s 18, so he can probably play in the next two of these.
Nwaneri has several years left at the U21 level but will hope a senior debut comes soonerGetty“Which is crazy to me, because for most of us here, this would probably be our last chance to play in the Under-21s.
“So just considering his age and how mature he is for his age and his football brain and just how good he is with the football at his feet and how hard we works, I have no doubt he could go to the very top.”
Nwaneri can prove his Ballon d’Or credentials, however lofty the ambition may be, in the Euro Under-21 Championship as England look to retain their crown.
Lee Carsley‘s squad will begin the defence of their crown on Thursday against Czechia.
talkSPORT 2 will have live commentary of the game from James Fielden and former England U21 midfielder Darren Ambrose and you can tune into the contest here.
England's Euro U21 group fixtures in full
Thursday June 12, 8pm: Czechia U21 v England U21
Sunday June 15, 5pm: England U21 v Slovenia U21
Wednesday June 18, 8pm: England U21 v Germany U21
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