AMID the chaos and brilliance of Arsenal’s stunning Champions League quarter final first leg 3-0 victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday night, two young stars watched on from the bench.
With the return of Bukayo Saka from injury, Ethan Nwaneri was an unused sub against the Los Blancos after his incredible breakthrough season.
On the opposite bench, another young starlet – 20-year-old Arda Guler – enjoyed the spectacle in a watching capacity having also shone brightly out in Spain, and is now being linked to Arsenal, as well as other big clubs in Europe.
Having joined Madrid from boyhood club Fenerbahce in July 2023 for an initial £17.2m, the Turk’s debut campaign was hampered by injuries, making only 12 appearances in all competitions.
Yet he still managed six goals in 10 La Liga appearances and 330 minutes of playing time, becoming the fastest player in Madrid history to hit that tally.
More game time has followed this term with 34 appearances in all competitions so far, but just 10 of these have been starts, including 56 minutes of a 2-0 Champions League defeat away at Liverpool in November.
There is the feeling in Spain that Guler – way down the pecking order behind the likes of Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde and 39-year-old Luka Modric – may need to leave the Bernabeu to reach his full potential, similar to the Martin Odegaard situation before his £30m switch to Arsenal in the summer of 2021.
Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti struggled to integrate Odegaard into his Galactico squad upon his January 2015 arrival as a 16-year-old, and is having similar issues with Guler.
Paul Clement – Ancelotti’s former assistant who remains in contact with the Italian – confirmed this to SunSport last week: Guler needs more game time than he is currently getting, something the Madrid coaching staff recognise.
The question is: do Arsenal actually need Guler with 18-year-old Nwaneri now an established first-team player with 14 starts in all competitions this season?
Guler has featured mostly as an attacking midfielder, but also pops up on the right, just like Nwaneri. But how do the two compare?
Guler has 1,171 minutes under his belt this year, averaging 34 minutes per game. Nwaneri is similar with 1,199 minutes and averaging 39 minutes.
In terms of touches per 90 minutes, Guler has 77 and Nwaneri has 58. The Turkish international has 14 shots on target from 39 attempts. England U21 star Nwaneri has 18 shots on target from 38 attempts.
There is nothing between them for goal involvements too – Guler has nine [three goals and six assists] and Nwaneri has 10 [eight goals and two assists].
Guler would cost between £30m and £40m at least should anyone come calling, but it appears not to make too much sense with a younger Nwaneri living up to his potential and capturing the hearts of Arsenal fans as a Hale End product.
Mikel Arteta will be prioritising an elite striker this summer, with Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi already lined up and the defence needing bolstering too.
Guler is a massive talent ready to explode, in the Odegaard mould, but Arteta will be wary of stifling what he already has on the books.
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NWANERI CONTRACT TALKS?
Speaking of Nwaneri, he is one of several players Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta are desperate to tie down to long-term contracts in the coming months.
Talks will begin soon, with Nwaneri’s current deal – his first professional contract signed in March 2024 – expiring at the end of next season, along with fellow academy star Myles Lewis-Skelly, who put pen to paper in October 2023.
SunSport understands Nwaneri is in line for a competitive salary raise, in line with a regular squad player and first-team option.
However, with Arsenal’s wage bill increasing by nearly £100m in their 2023/24 financial accounts – from £234.8m to £327.8m – the club will be wary over giving an astronomical wage packet to a teenager, regardless of his talent and potential.
Arsenal will also need to fork out for extensions on major first-team stars like Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel this summer.
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However, boss Mikel Arteta often asks for wage negotiations or announcements to be delayed until after big months of the season, especially if they progress into the semi-finals of the Champions League.
It is why Arteta has been tight-lipped over the futures of midfielders Thomas Partey and Jorginho, whose deals run out in a few months.
ARSENAL’S SURPRISE FAN CLUB
The quality of action on show in the Premier League has been a hot topic, with Gary Neville pouring oil over the fire this week in a passionate rant.
On the Stick To Football podcast, he raged: “If we’re constantly served up this crap where we are watching centre-backs, full-backs and goalkeepers touch the ball hundreds of times more than the most talented players on the pitch.
“That isn’t right – the game can’t be evolving in the right way.”
SunSport understands that directors from Arsenal’s Prem rivals are hoping the Gunners can change this perception with a strong run in the Champions League.
Should Mikel Arteta’s men see off Real Madrid next week in a similarly stunning and entertaining fashion, before beating Paris Saint-Germain in the semis and Barcelona in the final, there is a feeling that this would reinvigorate the Prem and show what English clubs are capable of.
RICE’S FREE-KICKS WERE COMING…
Declan Rice’s free-kick double act against Madrid sent the Emirates – and social media – into meltdown.
They were his first in senior football in over 400 matches, with many asking the same question: Why has he not been taking free-kicks before?
After all, set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has had him on corner-taking duties because of his incredible delivery and the amount of whip he can get on a ball ever since he honed Rice’s talent on a mid-season trip to Dubai.
The answer is: He has, but has not found the top corner until now.
This season in the Prem, he had one poor effort deflected by the wall behind for a corner in the 1-0 win over Chelsea last month before smacking one straight at Jordan Pickford in their 1-1 draw away at Everton last weekend.
Last season, in April 2024, he had another tame approach blocked at Wolves, with another in the March comfortably saved in the 6-0 win at Sheffield United and another hitting the wall in a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in December 2023.
Even at West Ham he was getting his eye in – blasting one well over the bar in the 2021/22 season away at Tottenham and another low drive saved at Aston Villa.
His last attempt in Europe appears to be in the 21/22 Europa League, seeing a long-range flier blocked in a 2-0 win away at Dinamo Zagreb.
In total, Rice had taken 12 free-kicks before scoring twice past Thibaut Courtois, none of which came close.
This is not just a Rice problem however, more an Arsenal problem, scoring just ONE of their last 64 dead-ball attempts before facing Madrid, one of the worst records in the Prem.
In that time, Manchester City have scored 10, Chelsea have scored seven, Newcastle United have scored five and five other Premier League teams have scored four.
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