Ethan Nwaneri sends message to Mikel Arteta as Arsenal youngster provides two assists in England Under-21s win

Ethan Nwaneri sent a strong message to Mikel Arteta as the Arsenal youngster excelled in England Under-21s 4-0 victory over Moldova Under-21s in a European Championship qualifier.

The 18-year-old signed a new long-term contract with his boyhood club over the summer, but he has since found game time hard to come by under Arteta in the 2025-26 season.

Nwaneri has played just 235 minutes across five matches for Arsenal in the current campaign, and his only start came in the Gunners' 2-0 EFL Cup third-round victory at Port Vale.

So far in the Premier League, Nwaneri has only been brought off the bench on four occasions, and he was not even involved in the matchday squad for the 2-1 success over Newcastle United at St James' Park.

However, the 2007-born protege has now made quite the statement of intent, as he provided two assists and played a crucial role in a third goal for Lee Carsley's men on Friday night.

Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri delivers two assists in England Under-21s victory

Nwaneri firstly picked up a loose ball in the Moldova half and drove forward at the hosts' backline before laying off Chelsea's Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who cut inside and beat the goalkeeper at his near post.

In the 68th minute, the Arsenal youngster then threaded a well-timed pass through to Divin Mubama just outside the penalty area, before the Manchester City-owned attacker fired low into the Moldova goal.

After claiming two assists, Nwaneri then played a crucial role in England's third goal of the evening, slipping through Fulham's Josh King who was subsequently taken out inside the area.

On-loan Stoke City striker Mubama converted the spot kick for his second of the night, before Manchester City's Rico Lewis made the scoreline more emphatic for the reigning champions in the 89th minute.

England have now won both of their first two games in Group D of qualifying for the 2027 Under-21 Euros, having also taken down Kazakhstan 2-0 in September, when Nwaneri was among the scorers.

Carsley's side now have a two-day break before hosting Andorra at Derby County's Pride Park Stadium, where Nwaneri will be expected to play another prominent role for the reigning European champions again.

Why is Ethan Nwaneri out of favour at Arsenal?

When Martin Odegaard suffered his two shoulder injuries earlier in the season, the time was seemingly nigh for Nwaneri to start in the captain's role, but Arteta instead sided with a more experienced but less creative option in Mikel Merino.

That experiment did not bear fruit, but Arteta may have deemed his compatriot more up to the task of leading the press in Arsenal's 4-4-2 shape, which is Odegaard's job when the Norwegian is fully fit.

Even though Odegaard is now facing another spell out with a knee injury, Eberechi Eze is above Nwaneri in the central pecking order, as either Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli can start on the left wing.

Therefore, even if Nwaneri continues to shine for England at Under-21 level, his situation at Arsenal may not improve for some time yet.