Arsenal prodigy Ethan Nwaneri has struggled for regular minutes during the second half of the season while on loan at Marseille
Ethan Nwaneri joined Marseille on loan from Arsenal this winter
Arsenal are in line to receive a financial boost due to Ethan Nwaneri’s lack of minutes while on loan at Marseille.
The talented attacking midfielder joined the French giants on loan during the winter transfer window but the move has been a rollercoaster ride due to Roberto De Zerbi’s dismissal at the Stade Velodrome.
The Italian pushed hard to sign Nwaneri and held direct talks with Mikel Arteta but parted company with Marseille just a few weeks after the deal was finalised following a 5-0 defeat to PSG in Le Classique.
Since then, replacement Habib Beye has failed to warm to Nwaneri and on Sunday, he failed to start the 19-year-old against Monaco even though Mason Greeenwood was absent through injury.
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football.london‘s understanding of the loan agreement with Arsenal is that OM paid a base loan fee worth around £1.3million (€1.5m).
But crucially, the more minutes Nwaneri plays, the less they’ll pay come the end of the season as the overall package was worth up to £3.5m (€4m) including add-ons.
It’s believed there is a discreet threshold regarding minutes and starts and the agreement was effectively designed to maximise the player’s opportunities in France.
Still, Beye hasn’t shown great commitment to playing Nwaneri, who will definitely return to Arsenal at the end of the season following the conclusion of his six-month loan.
Since his appointment, the England U21 international has not started any of the club’s six Ligue 1 matches even though he netted on his debut under De Zerbi in a 3-1 win over title challengers Lens.
What’s even more mystifying is that Nwaneri came off the bench to replace the injured Greenwood during the recent 2-1 defeat to Lille and scored – only to then be named on the bench again against Monaco.
Beye recently offered a brutally honest assessment of the player after he netted twice for England U21s against Moldova.
The former Aston Villa defender said: “He is a great talent who needs to adapt to Ligue 1 and its intensity. Against Lille, he scored, but there are still aspects of his game that need to be much stronger. He needs to understand that he is arriving at a really top-level club. What is good is that he scored (twice) with his national team.”
There have been reports in the French press suggesting Beye does not want to invest effort into developing a player who will definitely not be part of the club’s project beyond the end of the season.
Either way, Arsenal will welcome Nwaneri back to north London with open arms and there’s still hope he will return to the club a better player due to his experiences in France.
