Ethan Nwaneri loan move to Marseille confirmed - Will it aid his development?

In need of game time 

Arsenal have yet to make a single signing in the January transfer window but have now bid farewell to a big name youngster. This Friday, the club confirmed that 18-year-old attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri will go on loan for the remainder of the season to Ligue 1 club Marseille. A number of clubs around Europe and within the Premier League were also keen on signing the talent on a permanent deal, but Arsenal are only willing to let Nwaneri leave on loan. An Arsenal club statement read, "We wish Ethan all the best for his time with Marseille and look forward to seeing him develop his talent in one of the best leagues in Europe."

Nwaneri made 37 appearances for Mikel Arteta’s side last season across all competitions, averaging around 37 minutes of game time per appearance and creating a remarkable amount of buzz around his potential as a future England and Arsenal star. In line with his rise to prominence, the young player’s market value shot up from €12m to €55m. Technically speaking, Nwaneri’s game time has risen slightly to 43 minutes per appearance this season, but following the arrival of Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke, the young star who predominantly plays either as a central attacking midfielder, but is also capable of playing on the right wing, has seriously struggled to work his way into Arteta’s first team plans. As such, his market value has fallen by €15m since the start of the season.

Ben Littlemore is one of Transfermarkt's Content Managers that follows Arsenal closely and tells us more about Nwaneri's situation at the club: "It's first worth noting that Nwaneri would probably never have played as many minutes as he did last season if it wasn't for Arsenal's injury crisis in forward areas. However, when he signed a new long-term contract in the summer, it's unlikely that he knew the Gunners would sign Eberechi Eze, further complicating his route to minutes this term. But I think he also knows that he needs to be patient, a bit like Phil Foden was at Man City. In fact, Nwaneri has actually played more games and more minutes than Foden did at this stage of his career.

"But as things stand, when everyone is fit, he is not getting enough game-time for a player of his talent. Nevertheless, the argument still stands that he may learn more from being around a potential title-winning squad than he would elsewhere. But I do think Marseille is a good move for him and it sounds like Arsenal have been given a guarantee that he will get plenty of minutes. I also expect Arsenal to include a recall clause in case they suffer some injuries during the run-in."