Ethan Nwaneri (53)

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so play him then Arteta

This cameo was an announcement

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https://x.com/willbalsam/status/1840072292824387635?s=46

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Good cameo. Came in and got involved immediately. The aura talk is still silly. We’re starting to sound midtable around here.

What was Mercenary hounded about?

I think @Mercenary said something about Nwaneri having an aura about him was compared to Fabregas. @Leper didn’t agree with that bit so they went a bit back and forth about.

I don’t remember @Mercenary getting hounded about it though.

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He’s talented but I’d rather see him slowly integrated. Cup games, subbed on when the game is won etc

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Easy to get excited by that cameo. The match situation helped as well with Leicester completely on the backfoot. What we cannot deny is that he showed confidence, which is a big thing. He also showed he can tackle, has a burst of pace and can take on and beat people. Only positives.

I expect Mikel to continue to use him like today in the league.

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With Odegaard out don’t see the harm in him getting some starts

Could accelerate his development I reckon, it’s clear they are being careful with him which is always a good default approach but he’s ready for more, doesn’t have to be full 90 but 60 mins could do him some good

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Pretty much.

He will I’m sure

Won’t be long before we are telling Arteta to rest him and not rinse him every game.

He will become a trusted lynchpin of the team soon enough.

I’m not saying he’s as good as cesc but the way he is coming into the team isn’t dissimilar to how cesc was eased in in 2004-05.

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Imo, a point of reference should be how Foden was integrated at City, not how we did it with Cesc.

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Have thought the same

City brought Foden through slowly and plenty of times they were criticised for not playing him so early on but it’s turned out incredibly well and will set him in good stead for his longevity. Only last season was one in which he played huge minutes

Would be great to do the same with Nwaneri and we should have that luxury with all the pieces we’ve been adding but still giving him some more game time in the absence of Odegaard would be nice too

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https://x.com/kimmofc/status/1840104386342621612?s=46

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Arteta was also there at City at the time. Foden probably is the foremost model in his mind.

Nwaneri is essentially one year ahead of where Foden was age wise at the time but this year could look a little like Foden’s 2018-2019, when he got 13 league appearances and 3 starts while also playing a lot in the domestic cups.

That year set up Foden for a subsequent 19-20 in which he continued to slowly build up his contribution until by the spring/summer (it was covid) he was starting regularly in the league and basically never looked back.

Looked sharp when he came on today. I think if Leicester hadn’t scored during the second half, he would have been given some good minutes today. Hopefully’ he’ll have that chance against Southampton next week.

Cautionary tale is Wilshire and lesser extent Fabregas

Wilshire was completely broken by his early twenties and Fabregas’ legs had practically gone by his mid twenties.

We want to see more of him but as you mentioned Arteta will be aware of Fodens rise and the subsequent pay off

Whether Nwaneri will able to get to such a level remains to be seen but can’t rush it regardless

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Fabregas was such a unique case. He went from playing just a bit in the League Cup to starting about 30 games the next season.

The odds of this happening here are low unless there is a massive injury crisis. I think if he can get 20-25 appearances(some of which are starts) this season that’d be pretty good for him.

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Oh great now Twitter football has given him Paul Pierce’s nickname.

ā€˜The Truth’ ffs.

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