Arsenal’s exciting 17 y/o Nwaneri alternative can help replace Martinelli

They might not have it quite as bad as their North London rivals, but Arsenal have still been incredibly unlucky with injuries this season.

Mikel Arteta’s side have had to make do without Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Ben White and even William Saliba at points this season, and it has undoubtedly impacted their form in the Premier League.

To make matters worse, Gabriel Martinelli went down with a hamstring injury during the team’s League Cup defeat to Newcastle United and is set to spend the next few weeks on the sideline.

Despite looking incredibly thin up top, there are a few solutions the manager could turn to in the Brazilian’s absence, including handing an exciting academy gem his first taste of first-team football.

Arteta’s first team solutions to replace Martinelli

With Saka out for a few more weeks and Jesus until next season, there are just a couple of realistic options Arteta could use to solve the problem caused by Martinelli’s absence, and perhaps the most unpopular would be starting Raheem Sterling.

The Chelsea loanee has been one of the biggest disappointments for the Gunners this season, as in his 18 appearances, he’s only been able to rack up a paltry haul of one goal and two assists.

What makes that dismal tally even worse is that two of his three goal involvements came back in September in a game against League One Bolton Wanderers.

However, the Englishman can play on either the left or right so that he could start with Leandro Trossard on the opposite flank, and perhaps with a run of starts, he could start to produce more goals and assists for the team.

The other option from the first-team squad would be to hand Ethan Nwaneri even more minutes out on the right.

The Hale Ender has earned his place in the squad this season, and while he’s still just 17 years old, he’s looked outrageously impressive at times.

For example, in 23 games, totalling 700 minutes, the “special” talent, as dubbed by respected football analyst Ben Mattinson, has scored seven goals, which works out to a goal every 3.2 appearances, or every 100 minutes.

Moreover, he’s already developed a signature finish, which sees him cut inside and rifle off a shot from the edge of the box, which is something that could prove incredibly useful for Arteta’s side.

However, as he is still so young, he shouldn’t be played into the ground, which could open up a path for another academy gem who’s never even made it into a first-team squad before.

Arteta’s academy solution to help replace Martinelli

While it’s still early days, it looks like Hale End has produced another set of incredibly exciting talents for Arsenal, from the highly-rated Max Dowman to Josh Nichols, who has already played for the first team this season.

However, the academy gem we are talking about is someone who plays higher up the pitch, someone who can play across the frontline and therefore cover for Martinelli: Andre Harriman-Annous.

The 17-year-old forward moved up to the U18s in the summer and, as content creator and Arsenal fan Connor Humm claims, is the “real deal.”

For example, in just 22 appearances this season, totalling 1581 minutes, the London-born gem has scored 12 goals and provided two assists, which comes out to an impressive average of a goal involvement every 1.57 games, or every 112.92 minutes.

Moreover, he has already trained with the first team on multiple occasions over the last few months, so the club clearly rate him highly.

Ultimately, fans should not expect Harriman-Annous to come in and set the world alight – he’s never even made it onto the bench before – but as Arteta has so few options to cover for Martinelli at the moment, it would be the perfect opportunity to rotate him in and out of the team alongside Nwaneri and Sterling.