'I am responsible to build a career for him' - Mikel Arteta vows to control fate of Arsenal starlet Ethan Nwaneri after 17-year-old scored first Premier League goal

Bukayo Saka handed the Gunners the lead early in the first half before Thomas Partey doubled the team's lead in the 52nd minute. Nwaneri, who replaced captain Martin Odegaard in the 82nd minute, then scored his first-ever Premier League goal to seal a comfortable win for his club.

After the game, manager Mikel Arteta praised the 17-year-old attacking midfielder as he pointed out the special qualities that the youngster possesses. He also vowed to help the young player build a career at Emirates Stadium. While his game time in the league has been limited, Nwaneri has started in both of the club's Carabao Cup ties this term and has scored four goals.

Speaking to reporters, the Gunners boss said, "What I like is that he comes in and in that context, the first thing he does is take a touch, runs forward, runs past two players and put it inches away from the post. I am responsible to build a career for him. You have to do that brick by brick. Today he put another brick. Now we have to put another cement, make sure it doesn’t get dry so we can put another one and that will stick.

"Then we put one more layer, one more layer. If you want to put five in a row believe me it won’t work. We have to manage not only his expectation but his load as well, which is really important."

He added, "I will try to educate him, raise him, and give him the pathway that we believe is the best. His family, his agent, his friends, they will be very important as well. Don’t listen too much to the noise, focus on what he does which is to play football and he loves every minute of it and good things will happen to him for sure."

The north London side will be back in action in the Champions League in midweek as they take on Ruben Amorim's ex-club Sporting CP on Tuesday night.