Ethan Nwaneri tipped to follow lead of Ayden Heaven & Chido Obi to leave Arsenal for Man Utd by former Red Devils coach

Nwaneri's contract expires next summer and there is some concern at Arsenal that he may opt to leave north London. He is free to discuss a move to a foreign club from January, when he has six months left on his deal, but Meulensteen has now posited a theory that he could follow the examples of Obi and Heaven by swapping north London for Manchester.

Nwaneri has already made inroads into Arsenal's first-team, notching 39 first-team appearances and scoring nine goals at the age of 18, including strikes in the Champions League and the Premier League. Whether United are interested remains to be seen but Meulensteen, who worked in Sir Alex Ferguson's backroom staff at Old Trafford, believes they should be.

Meulensteen told Grosvenor Casino: "Ayden Heaven looks to be an astute bit of business and it’s interesting that there is a pathway of players moving from Arsenal to Manchester United with Chido Obi another one.

"These players have had a good education and for whatever reason they didn’t see a way forward at their particular club, United acted swiftly and we’ve seen them do well.

"Ethan Nwaneri could be another one, it’s interesting that other Arsenal players have been keen on United. What I would say on Nwaneri, I think there will be a bit more of a tug-of-war going on and more financial demands than with those two."

Arsenal face Tottenham in a north London derby on foreign soil on Thursday, as the two sides meet in pre-season in Hong Kong. Nwaneri has impressed during the Gunners' summer excursions to this point.