Nichols makes Nigerian mum proud with sterling Arsenal debut

The Nigerian mother of quad-national fullback Josh Nichols, couldn’t hide her joy when she witnessed her son make his unofficial debut for Arsenal’s first team in their pre-season encounter against Bournemouth on Thursday morning.

Mikel Arteta brought on the 17-year-old in the 78th minute for Ben White in a bid to freshen up his squad with the scoreline level.

Arsenal had opened the scoreline in the 17th minute when Ethan Nwaneri fed Reiss Nelson whose cross was met by Fabio Viera who volleyed the ball into the bottom corner.

The Cherries got the equalizer through Ghana international Antoine Semenyo whose shot was deflected home by White in the 73rd minute.

The game advanced into a penalty shootout with the Gunners having Karl Hein to thank who saved two penalties for the North London side to beat Andoni Iraola’s men 5-4.

While Nichols wasn’t involved in the penalty shootout, he must be glad to have been handed his debut with his mother in the stands.

The Newham-born defender was just handed a professional contract by Arsenal which shows there is some level of trust in his ability by the North London club hierarchy.

Nichols is also eligible to represent the national teams of Jamaica and Guyana through his father.

He will be hoping to get more game time when the Gunners clash with Manchester United on Saturday.

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