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Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy was not a fan of Mikel Arteta's decision to give Ethan Nwaneri his debut in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Brentford on September 18.
Nwaneri stepped off the bench in the dying embers of the Gunners' victory at the Gtech Community Stadium at the age of just 15.
He has become the youngest ever debutant in Premier League history, but Arteta's decision has received major backlash.
Cundy believes that Arteta chose to give Nwaneri his debut with his ego in mind.
He said on talkSPORT:
"Arteta doesn’t care about the boy. I think that’s a really poor decision. It’s about Arteta all about Arteta. The manager that played the youngest ever player in the Premier League is me. I think that’s self-indulgent."
Cundy was happy to see Nwaneri make the Arsenal bench for the game against Brentford:
"When I saw the kid on the bench I thought that was great for him. What a brilliant experience for the kid."
However, he was not impressed when the 15-year-old came on in stoppage time, adding:
"When I saw him warming up I thought this is ridiculous. This has got nothing to do with the kid this is all about Arteta, all about him, look what I’ve done. Time will tell."
He continued,
"He came on and he hardly touched the ball. He came on with seconds to go. This is about him making an appearance, nothing to do with the performance. Why didn’t he bring him on with 10 or 15 minutes to go?"
Cundy continued his tirade at the Arsenal manager and asked the question of what is next for the Gunners implementing youth players:
‘There’s other players on that bench that could have come on. It’s the wrong decision because he’s still a kid. There’s pressure mounting already. From everything I’ve heard he’s going to be a superstar but putting him on at 15 does nothing to help his career."
He concluded:
"I think it’s irresponsible. What’s Arteta going to do next week? Pick a 14-year-old. I’m deadly serious here."
Arsenal manager Arteta discusses reasons for bringing Nwaneri on
Arteta has explained his reasonings behind giving Arsenal teenager Nwaneri his debut against Brentford.
The Spaniard claims that he has heard good things from his coaching staff, saying (via the club's official website):
"The first day I met him I looked him in his eyes and everyone was telling me about him, Per was telling me about him, and because of the injuries we only have 12 or 13 senior players yesterday to put in the squad and we decided to bring him, and that’s it."
