Mikel Arteta didn’t get the backing from his board in the recently-concluded January transfer window. When almost everybody else apart from Liverpool saw some incoming or the other, the former Man City assistant manager had to contain himself with what he already had at his disposal. Meanwhile, you can check out the prices of every January transfer signing in FPL.
In such scenarios, managers often tend to explore the academy pipeline and the Spaniard happens to be a master of this craft. Nwaneri made the headlines three years back when he became the youngest-ever Arsenal player to play in the English top flight. We tracked him in our FPL radar and suggested in early January that he could be a great budget enabler in fantasy football.
However, the FPL gods had other plans and the Arsenal academy graduate missed a few weeks of action while nursing a muscular injury on the sidelines. Now, the English attacker is back and can be a witty FPL pick going forward.
After his minutes were managed against Wolves despite being handed a start by Arteta, Ethan had his moment of glory against Pep’s Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. He took just six minutes to slot the ball home and that too from an xG of 0.02.
Last night too, Ethan was introduced in the second-half during Arsenal’s 0-2 defeat to Newcastle at St. James’ Park. Arteta is clearly short of attacking options with both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus out injured. There were no arrivals in January, not even any loan deal.
In such a scenario, Nwaneri provides a great value not only to the Arsenal gaffer but also to fantasy managers. Ethan has 3 goals in the Fantasy Premier League 2024-25, which were scored from a cumulative xG(Expected Goal) of 0.6. Moreover, he plays out of position, much like Kobbie Mainoo these days.
Hence, despite being listed as a midfielder in the fantasy, Ethan Nwaneri is mostly deployed as a no.9 or as a wide forward in the final third. Therefore, he gets an extra point every time he hits the net and also another extra point if the team manages to walk away with a clean sheet.
At £4.5m, he would be a superb pick as your fifth-choice midfielder in FPL. Nwaneri is a niche asset with only 0.7% ownership. Also, he has a rare trait of scoring goals from cameo appearances. Even against Nottingham Forest, he came off the bench to hit the ball home.
Though Arsenal has missed out on the double gameweek in GW25, as they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Eddie Howe’s men last night, the Gunners have two plum fixtures in the next two gameweeks. They travel to Leicester before hosting West Ham. You may have a bargain transfer by choosing Ethan Nwaneri. Meanwhile, his teammate Myles Lewis-Skelly also looks to be a great budget differential with superb value.
