Arsenal stars praise 'special talent' following 6-0 triumph over West Ham

Clearly Arsenal took losing 2-0 at home to West Ham in December exceptionally personally. By half-time at the London Stadium yesterday (11 February), the Gunners were 4-0 up and they were not finished as the full time whistle ended with Mikel Arteta's side on six goals.

William Saliba kicked off the goal-scoring bonanza and was soon joined on the scorecard by Bukayo Saka - who scored a brace - Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard and ex-Hammers captain Declan Rice. While the Stratford club now fear over the remaining lifespan of their manager, the Gunners had much more to celebrate with one star in particular receiving plenty of praise from his team-mates after the final whistle blew.

With the Gunners 6-0 up after 65 minutes, Arteta was able to hand 16-year-old Ethan Nwaneri several minutes on the pitch, and at 77 minutes, on he came for Gabriel Martinelli. Following his 13 minute cameo, in which he completed 15 passes, created a chance and won a free-kick, Nwaneri took to Instagram to posted a series of pictures which included him in action against West Ham and he was soon inundated with messages of support from his fellow team-mates.

22-year-old Saka was one of the first responses and commented 'Baller', while fellow goal-scorer Saliba added four fire emojis underneath. Reiss Nelson, Ben White and Gunners captain Martin Odegaard where among others to add supportive emojis and Declan Rice wrote "special, special talent."

Nwaneri became the youngest-ever player to feature in the Premier League las season after coming off the bench against Brentford and he has already been dubbed an 'unplayable' talent, with England internationals Saka and Rice the latest to point out the starlet's talent.

The youngster's boss also admitted that he overheard his players 'whispering' for him to bring Nwaneri on as he said in the post-match press conference: "There is something you have to have in your team, and that is the trust of the teammates. And I had two things: one, the players on the bench whispering to bring Ethan on, which is a great thing to hear, and the other one your teammates want to give you the ball all of the time."

Born in 2007, Nwaneri has been with Arsenal since 2016, and with his schoolboy term ending in June 2023, he agreed a new deal with the Gunners on scholarship terms with the agreement for a professional contract upon his seventeenth birthday, which is in March 2024. The midfielder has also impressed at international level, making six U16 appearances and 21 U17 appearances for the Young Lions.