Arsenal are having an excellent season and are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, have a 100% record in the Champions League and in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup with a lead over Chelsea from the first leg.
The Gunners are hoping to end their wait for a trophy this season and have signed a number of players including midfielder Martin Zubimendi, Eze and – despite his struggles – striker Viktor Gyokeres as “win now” signings.
That has meant that manager Mikel Arteta has looked at using players with experience to get results with Odegaard and Zubimendi preferred in midfield, while the Spaniard has favoured both Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie at left-back this season.
Hincapie has experience of winning a league title after being part of the Bayer Leverkusen side that won the Bundesliga in 2023-24.
That has made things difficult for Nwaneri’s fellow academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Lewis-Skelly also took his chance during Arsenal‘s injury crisis last season, making 42 appearances in all competitions, including playing in both games of the impressive Champions League quarter-final win over Real Madrid.
Lewis-Skelly’s performances were so good that he was given an England debut by Thomas Tuchel, scoring against Albania in a 2-0 win and looked set to be the Three Lions’ starting left-back at the World Cup.
Game time hasn’t been as hard to come by for Lewis-Skelly and he has started nine of his 23 appearances this season, but he has started just once in the Premier League and has dropped out of the England squad.
It is always going to be hard for young players to break through from the academy into the first team at a club like Arsenal without any dips in form.
But after two excellent breakthrough seasons for Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri, it looks as though the development path will be slightly different to what the pair imagined at the beginning of the season.