Manchester United interested in Arsenal midfielder who’s yet to agree to a new deal

Arsenal, having lost the Premier League title to Manchester City over the weekend, now find themselves in a struggle to keep hold of one of their academy’s brightest prospects, with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United circling.

In September of last year, Ethan Nwaneri came off the bench to make his first-team debut for Arsenal in the side’s 3-0 win over Brentford. At 15 years and 181 days, he became the youngest ever talent to play in the Premier League.

There are high hopes for Nwaneri in Hale End, but his contract situation has led to question mark over his future at the Emirates beyond the summer.

Nwaneri is on Manchester United and Chelsea’s radar

According to the Athletic, Arsenal are yet to come to an agreement over his first professional contract. United, City, and Chelsea are monitoring his availability although Arsenal have not given up hopes of convincing him to accept their offer and new dialogue has taken place lately.

Interestingly, Charlie Patino has already decided to leave Arsenal on a permanent basis this summer. As such, this exodus does have a precedent. The North London club would be keen to ensure they don’t lose another highly-rated talent.

While the Arsenal faithful sweat over potential exits, there’s also excitement over Mikel Arteta and the club’s sporting director Edu’s plans to reinforce the squad to build on this season’s progress.

Ahead of their return to Champions League, Arsenal are prioritising the signing of Declan Rice from West Ham, and are also interested in Chelsea star Mason Mount to add creativity through the middle. But they will face ‘strong’ competition from Liverpool and United.

Further, Bayer Leverkusen are in talks to sign Granit Xhaka, and Manchester City veteran Ilkay Gundogan has been identified as the Swiss midfielder’s ideal replacement.