“He’s probably not playing the minutes he deserves. We have immense talent in our hands and we must take care of it”. The words come from Mikel Arteta and are not just window dressing. Last season, Ethan Nwaneri played 26 Premier League matches, including 11 as a starter. But Arsenal gave themselves the means to achieve their ambitions last summer, and their XXL recruitment in all sectors reduced the playing time of the young 18-year-old Englishman to a trickle.
Six appearances in the Premier League, three in the Champions League, three in the National Cups, too few for a player of his talent, announced as one of the future stars of the Premier League. And this is where OM was smarter and faster than the others. Until Tuesday morning, no one had heard of any interest from OM in Nwaneri, and everything came to a head very quickly, proof of the work done upstream by Medhi Benatia and Pablo Longoria. Arriving late Wednesday afternoon in the Marseille city, Nwaneri was able to discover his new environment a few hours before a Champions League match against Liverpool.
Nwaneri, appreciable versatility
And he was able to sign his contract for a 5-month loan with OM. “Ethan Nwaneri has joined Olympique de Marseille on loan until the end of the season. Our extremely talented 18-year-old prodigy has made 12 appearances in all competitions this season and will now benefit from more valuable playing time with the Ligue 1 side.”we can read on the official website of the London club.
OM therefore strikes a very nice blow by welcoming Nwaneri for the second part of the season. One more weapon for Roberto De Zerbi, who still has three competitions to play. Nwaneri offers him a variety of solutions, since he can play in the middle, in the center, as a relay or in 10, and also on the right side, which could allow Mason Greenwood to breathe from time to time. OM has 5 months to make this loan a win-win deal.
