At A Glance:
- Ethan Nwaneri was sent on loan to Marseille in January.
- Minutes have been hard to come by – especially under Habib Beye.
- Arsenal could be set to financially benefit from his lack of game time.
Arsenal and England wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri was sent out loan to Marseille in January as a means of getting senior minutes under his belt – but things have not panned out as such and the Gunners are set to benefit financially as a result.
Mikel Arteta has been criticised by Nigel Winterburn for allowing Nwaneri to leave (albeit on a temporary basis) in the winter months.
Despite the flurry of goals, Arsenal have somewhat struggled in an attacking sense and it’s been their backline carrying them many matches.
Read More: Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal handed boost in pursuit of Christian Kofane amid Bayern Munich priority shift
Whether the English youngster staying in N5 would’ve helped them in their pursuit of silverware will forever remain unknown but Roberto De Zerbi was keen to secure his services in January and a deal was subsequently struck.
Ethan Nwaneri’s lack of gametime at Marseille set to benefit Arsenal financially
Things haven’t got swimmingly for the 19-year-old since moving to France earlier this year and De Zerbi leaving and Habib Beye replacing the Italian meant that Nwaneri slipped down the pecking order in southern France.
Yet to start under the new management, he has made a series of appearances off the bench and Beye sent him a clear message recently.
“He is a big talent who needs to adapt to the intensity of Ligue 1,” he said. “He looks like the ideal replacement for Mason [Greenwood] but we have several quality players to choose from. He must understand he’s come to a very, very high-level club.”
But why are Arsenal set for a financial boost because of Beye’s choice to give him so very few chances to prove himself at the Orange Velodrome?
According to football.london, the loan agreement between Arsenal and Marseille means the latter are paying a base loan fee around the £1.3 million (€1.5m) mark.
However, what is so crucial about the deal is that the more minutes he plays, the less they will have to pay when he returns to London Colney.
Although the exact figures are not understood, football.london have reported the overall loan package was worth up to £3.5 million (€4m), which included add-ons.
There is reportedly a ‘discreet threshold’ regarding the number of minutes and starts that Ethan Nwaneri is given on his six-month loan deal as Arsenal did everything they could to make sure his spell was a valuable one.
Given that he arrived mid-season, there are French publications reporting that Beye is not willing to invest time and effort into Nwaneri by virtue of the fact that he will not be at the club in the long run. He’s set to return to Arsenal this summer.
Arsenal need to keep hold of Ethan Nwaneri… and Myles Lewis-Skelly
There have been many people that have claimed that Arteta is not willing to put his trust in the youth – and that was a notion exemplified by the fact that Ayden Heaven and Chido Obi both moved to Manchester United for a clearer pathway to the first team.
The Spanish tactician has somewhat debunked that myth by using Nwaneri, his partner in crime Myles Lewis-Skelly and the record-breaking Max Dowman over the years.
He still does have a tendency to pick experience over the exuberance of youth (sometimes understandably!) but selling either of the aforementioned triumvirate would be a poor move – and one that would unpopular with the majority of the supporters.
They are talented enough to form the backbone of Arsenal’s success for years to come – and although selling them is an attractive prospect as it would represent pure profit on the books, it’d be the wrong decision.
