Arsenal Play 13-Year-Old Against Bayern as UEFA Youth Record Broken

Arsenal’s academy made history on Wednesday as one of their top prospects became the youngest player to feature in the UEFA Youth League, aged 13 years 11 months and 15 days.

Luis Munoz, who was born in December 2011 – when Olly Murs was top of the UK charts with his song Dance With Me Tonight – came off the bench for Arsenal's under-19 side in a 4-2 win over Bayern Munich.

As a result, Munoz beat the record set by Liam Payas, who played for Gibraltar-based Lincoln Red Imps under-19s aged 14 years, three months and one day in September 2024.

It has been a month to remember for the young Spaniard, a year 9 student. He was part of the Arsenal under-16 squad that won the Premier League U16 National Finals at St George's Park on November 13.

And his cameo against Bayern was the cherry on top of the cake, with many reacting to his record-breaking appearance in Borehamwood.

One fan wrote: "I need to watch more of him. Something special is happening at Hale End," while another commented: "Kids these days are gonna be the most technically gifted ever. Standard of football will only get higher."

This season, players are eligible to feature in the UEFA Youth League if they were born on or after January 1, 2007, with up to five 2006-born players allowed in the squad.

Arsenal included a host of schoolboys in their squad on Wednesday, including the highly-rated Emerson Nwaneri, who is the younger brother of first-team forward Ethan Nwaneri.

Nwaneri, who made headlines in September after scoring a hat-trick against Chelsea, also came off the bench against Bayern.

Speaking about Emerson in an interview with Arsenal's website last year, Ethan Nwaneri gave an insight into what fans can expect from his younger sibling.

“He’s a midfielder but he can play right back as well," said Ethan. "He’s probably more outgoing than me – he’s the loud one."

He added: "There are three years between us so it would be really cool if we could both play in the Arsenal first-team together one day. We’ve spoken about that a bit and what that would be like, it’s something to aim for.”