Former Chelsea star Joe Cole has urged England head coach Thomas Tuchel to give Ethan Nwaneri a call-up to the Three Lions for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
Cole posited the 17-year-old should go straight into Tuchel’s first England squad following his record-breaking performance for Arsenal in their 7-1 thumping of PSV Eindhoven in Tuesday’s Champions League fixture.
Nwaneri, born in England to Nigerian parents, became the third-youngest player – after Bojan Krkic and Jude Bellingham – to score a Champions League knockout stage goal when he struck in the win against PSV.
His goal was set up by another Arsenal academy product, 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly, in what was the first time two English teenagers have combined for a goal in Champions League history.
Nwaneri has since stepped up in the absence of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, taking his tally for the season to eighth.
“For me, I’m certainly bringing him,” Cole said on TNT Sports. “He’s that good I don’t think he needs the Under-21s, in my opinion. He needs to go straight in with Thomas Tuchel, use him, get him around the players, bringing him off the bench, blooding him in.
“He’s an England player for the next 10 to 15 years. Wonderful talent. Great mentality. He’s at the right club at the right time. I would be stunned if Thomas Tuchel doesn’t look at him and wants to bring him into the next squad.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was full of praise for both Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly.
The Spaniard explained that the support the two youngsters are getting from their senior teammates is helping them become better.
“To be doing what they are doing at 17 and 18 years old, shows incredible maturity.
“They are doing that because of how the other players support them and make them better.
“They have a lot of courage. Myles makes an assist, that’s the team that I want to see, they take initiative and they want to make things happen.”
