Arsenal's teenage sensation Ethan Nwaneri capped by England as he features in U17 match

NIGERIA'S hopes of securing the services of Arsenal teenager Ethan Nwaneri have suffered a major setback after the midfielder became provisionally cap-tied after featuring for England's U17 team in a match against Lithuania on Tuesday.

Nwaneri became the youngest player ever to play in the English Premier League at 15 years and 181 days on September 18 when he came on in injury time for Arsenal against Brentford. He shattered the previous record held by Harvey Elliot of Liverpool who appeared for Fulham at the age of 16 years and 30 days.

His appearance suddenly sparked a lot of speculation about his international future and earlier this week, England  plated him for the Young Lions in their 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifier against Lithuania at the Tbilisi Sea Technical Centre Stadium. Sporting jersey number 20, Nwaneri came on as a substitute in the 79th minute for his first competitive match of the tournament.

Before today's clash against Lithuania, Nwaneri had played in a non-binding friendly matches for England's U16 and U17 national teams. However, with him having featured in a competitive fame, he will now need to go through a switch with Fifa if he decides to play for Nigeria art senior international level..

Following his introduction on Tuesday, Nwaneri restored the Young Lions' two-goal advantage two minutes after coming on, in what proved to be an inspired substitution. England U17s started their qualifying campaign with a 3-1 victory over Lithuania, with Chelsea midfielder Michael Golding scoring a brace.

A certain Victor Moses was England's top scorer at the 2007 U17 Euro with three goals but the former Chelsea and Inter Milan midfielder ended up representing Nigeria at two World Cups in 2014 and 2018. He, however, had to go through a switch with Fifa before he could play for the Super Eagles.