Arsenal are having an excellent season and are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, have won all seven of their Champions League, games, and hold a 3-2 first-leg lead over Chelsea in their Carabao Cup semi-final tie.
The Gunners are pushing for honours this season and signed a number of players, including midfielder Martin Zubimendi, Eze and striker Viktor Gyokeres as “win-now” signings.
That has meant manager Mikel Arteta has looked at using players with experience to get results, with Odegaard and Zubimendi preferred in midfield, while the Spaniard has favoured Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie at left-back this season.
Hincapie has experience of winning a league title after being part of the Bayer Leverkusen side that won the Bundesliga in 2023-24.
That has also made things difficult for Nwaneri’s fellow academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly.
The 19-year-old full-back also took his chance during Arsenal‘s injury crisis last season, making 42 appearances in all competitions, including playing in both games of the impressive Champions League quarter-final win over Real Madrid.
Lewis-Skelly’s performances were so good he was given an England debut by Thomas Tuchel, scoring against Albania in a 2-0 win and looked a strong contender to be the Three Lions’ starting left-back at the World Cup.
But he has started in just nine of his 23 appearances this season, including once in the Premier League, and dropped out of the England squad.
It was always going to be hard for young players to break through from the academy into the first team at a club like Arsenal and stay there.
And after two excellent breakthrough seasons for Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri, it looks as though the development path will be slightly different to what the pair imagined at the start of the season.
