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Ethan Nwaneri is set to join Marseille on loan after the French club agreed terms with Arsenal. The Times reported Marseille are expected to pay more than £2.5 million depending on appearances, with incentives tied to minutes played and no purchase clause. The agreement is also believed to include a penalty if Nwaneri does not feature enough, reflecting a focus on regular game time.
Marseille to pay more than £2.5m loan fee for Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri
Ethan Nwaneri is poised to move from Arsenal to Marseille on loan after the clubs agreed terms. According to The Times, Marseille are expected to pay more than £2.5 million as a loan fee, with the final amount depending on the midfielder’s appearances. The report said the deal does not include an option to buy, keeping Nwaneri’s long-term future with Arsenal.
The loan is also believed to contain a clause that penalises Marseille if Nwaneri does not play enough. The expectation is that the switch is designed to provide regular game time, with incentives linked directly to minutes played. Nwaneri has started only four of the 12 matches he has played this season, logging 515 minutes, after making 16 starts in 37 appearances last season.
Fulham and West Ham also showed interest in a loan move, with West Ham described as having been rebuffed. Bournemouth, despite being heavily linked, denied they wanted to sign him. The report did not detail whether any of those clubs pursued talks to the same stage as Marseille, but Marseille have now reached an agreement with Arsenal.
After Nwaneri made his 50th appearance for Arsenal last month, manager Mikel Arteta highlighted the scale of that milestone for a player of his age. “I want to see how many examples there are in English football with that number [of games] and age,” Arteta said. Asked about the move after Arsenal’s win against Inter Milan on Tuesday night, when Nwaneri was on the bench, Arteta did not dismiss it but remained vague.
