Arsenal’s youngest Premier League player still way off Freddy Adu’s insane debut age
Arsenal’s youngest ever Premier League player was still way off former wonderkid Freddy Adu’s insane debut age.
Ethan Nwaneri became the youngest player in Premier League history on Sunday as he came off the bench late on against Brentford at the age of 15 years and 181 days old. The teenage midfielder broke the previous record set by Harvey Elliott back in May 2019, when he played for Fulham aged 16 years and 30 days.
However, Nwaneri is still comfortably older than Adu, who made his senior debut for DC United at the age of 14 years and 313 days back in April 2004.
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The one-time football prodigy, who was labelled “the next Pele” early in his career, had been drafted into the MLS earlier that same year.
As the hype built around Adu, he went on trial with a host of European giants including Manchester United, where Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly offered to take him out to dinner.
However, the American forward failed to realise his potential after joining Benfica aged 18 for over £1million and has gone on to play for 14 clubs across nine different countries.
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His nomadic career has included spells in France, Greece, Turkey, Brazil, Serbia, Finland and most recently Sweden. Adu has also won 17 caps for the USA, scoring twice, having made his senior international debut aged 16.
Now 33-years-old, Adu is currently without a club, though, having left third tier Swedish side Osterlen FF in February of last year.
Nwaneri will hope to avoid emulating Adu’s unique career path after making Premier League history this weekend. The teenager is even younger than the Emirates Stadium.
Safeguarding rules even prevented Nwaneri from changing into his kit with the rest of the first team before he came off the bench during the closing stages of their 3-0 victory.
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The England youth international joined the club aged nine in 2016 and only made his under-18 Premier League debut in May last year aged 14.
His maiden under-21 appearance came as recently as earlier this month, with Nwaneri grabbing an assist in a 4-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers.
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