Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri is the talk of the football world right now, and even Arsene Wenger has chimed in.

Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium showed us two things. Mikel Merino might be a short-term answer up front, and Ethan Nwaneri has the football world at his feet right now.

The teenager was the Gunners’ best player, especially in the first half as he tormented the Foxes with his pace, direct attack and willingess to drive into the box.

Such was Nwaneri’s performance that included a delightfully clipped in ball to find Merino for Arsenal’s opener that Joe Cole compared Ethan’s dribbling and close control to that of Leo Messi.

“He’s a strong little thing,” Cole said. “You can’t mark him because he can go both ways, these touches he produces in and around the box, these little tiny touches, I don’t even want to say it but it’s like [Lionel] Messi.”

That’s big praise for a 17-year-old, and now we have former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger with his comparison, and it’s as you’d expect.

“Nwaneri is more a creator through his final ball, his dribbling and the quality of his passing,” Wenger said on beIN SPORTS via the Mirror. “Fabregas was very strong mentally but this boy looks as well and when I look at him, his maturity, it’s difficult for me to think he’s 17 years old. The sign of a special talent is they are ready early.”

The Gunners have needed someone to step up with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli injured, and Nwaneri has been the player.

A spark of energy and positivity, the teenager has taken on all before him and, more often than not, has looked at home at the level. Arsenal was in dire need of something positive to happen, and while the injuries to Saka and Martinelli weren’t great, they paved the way for Ethan to be shown on the world stage.

Now having comparisons to Messi and Fabregas, we aren’t sure those plaudits can get much higher, but it is easy to forget that he is only 17, and Mikel Arteta and the club must be wary to overplay him and also protect him from the limelight right now.

But that is hard to do when every time he steps onto the pitch, something good happens, and right now, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an Arsenal player in better form than Nwaneri.