At a Glance:
- Arsenal can no longer win the quadruple after losing to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.
- Nigel Winterburn believes a decision Mikel Arteta made in January may have cost the Gunners.
- The former defender says that Arteta must be more careful.
Nigel Winterburn believes Mikel Arteta made a mistake in the January transfer window, which ultimately scuppered Arsenal’s chances of winning an unprecedented quadruple.
The Gunners were on course to win four trophies this season until they were beaten by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final before the international break. A second-half brace of headers from Nico O’Reilly condemned the North Londoners to defeat at Wembley, ending Arteta’s ambitious hopes of a historic and never-before-seen season.
That said, Arsenal remain alive on three more fronts, with winnable Champions League and FA Cup quarter-final ties awaiting them. Despite being in a promising position in each of these competitions, and holding a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, Winterburn believes a decision Arteta made could have prevented the quadruple.
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Nigel Winterburn says Arsenal shouldn’t have loaned Ethan Nwaneri in January
Having spent just 521 minutes on the pitch across all competitions this season by January, Arsenal opted to loan Ethan Nwaneri to Marseille in the winter transfer window.
Although things started positively for the Hale End graduate in the south of France, Roberto De Zerbi’s abrupt exit has seen Nwaneri drop in the pecking order at the Stade Velodrome. He hasn’t started a single Ligue 1 game since the Italian’s departure, and it doesn’t look likely that he’s going to increase in prominence between now and the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s midfield injuries have left the Gunners somewhat short in recent weeks. Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze have been overburdened with minutes of late, with the lack of alternatives forcing Arteta to play them into the ground.
Speaking to PariuriX, legendary Arsenal defender Winterburn revealed his belief that enabling Nwaneri’s temporary departure in January was a mistake, given the Gunners were still competing on four fronts.
“When January came around, I had already stated players shouldn’t be going out on loan when we’re competing in all four competitions,” he said.
“You keep them all unless a player is really asking to go out on loan. You don’t do anything. You never know what’s going to happen with the squad.
“We let Nwaneri go out on loan, and all of a sudden, [Mikel] Merino gets injured, so you need to be careful.”
Arsenal were right to loan Ethan Nwaneri
Arsenal sanctioned Nwaneri’s move after the injury to Mikel Merino occurred. Thus, the club clearly felt that they could cope without the 19-year-old, and they were right to feel this way.
At the time, Eberechi Eze couldn’t get into Mikel Arteta’s side due to Martin Odegaard’s form, while Kai Havertz was returning from injury and looking for minutes in midfield. Thus, the Gunners had three senior options ahead of Nwaneri in the attacking midfield role, and Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke ahead of him on the right.
| Ethan Nwaneri’s Premier League Statistics 2024/25 | |
| Appearances | 26 |
| Goals | 4 |
| Assists | 2 |
| Shots per 90 | 2.41 |
| Successful Take-ons per 90 | 3.74 |
| Key Passes per 90 | 1.62 |
| Progressive Passes per 90 | 3.33 |
| Tackles and Interceptions per 90 | 1.31 |
The prospect was regularly being left out of squads, and it was therefore imperative for his development that he left North London to play regular football. The circumstances at Marseille changed drastically just a week after his arrival, but Arsenal couldn’t have known this when they sanctioned the loan deal.
Ultimately, had Nwaneri remained at the Emirates, he may have managed some cup appearances and cameos off the bench during Odegaard’s absence, although this wouldn’t have largely benefitted either Arsenal or his own personal career progression.
