Ethan Nwaneri transfer news: Arsenal midfielder joins Ligue 1 side Marseille on loan for the rest of the season

Arsenal are enjoying an excellent season and are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, winning all seven of their Champions League matches and holding a 3-2 lead from the first leg over Chelsea in their Carabao Cup semi-final.

The Gunners are chasing silverware this season and have signed a number of players, including midfielder Martin Zobimendi, Eze and striker Victor Gjukeres as ‘fourth signings now’.

This means that coach Mikel Arteta looked to use experienced players to get results, with Odegaard and Zobimendi preferred in midfield, while Spaniard Ricardo Calafiore and Piero Hincapie were preferred at left-back this season.

Hincapie has title-winning experience having been part of the Bayer Leverkusen side that won the Bundesliga in the 2023-2024 season.

This also made things difficult for Nwaneri’s fellow academy graduate Miles Lewis Skelly.

The 19-year-old full-back also made the most of his opportunity during Arsenal’s injury crisis last season, making 42 appearances in all competitions, including playing in both games of the impressive Champions League quarter-final win over Real Madrid.

Lewis Skelly’s performances were so good that he was handed an England debut by Thomas Tuchel, scoring against Albania in a 2-0 win, and looking a strong contender to be the Three Lions’ starting left-back at the World Cup.

But he started only nine of the 23 matches he played this season, including one Premier League match, and was then dropped from the England squad.

It has always been difficult for young players to make the transition from the academy to the first team at a club like Arsenal and stay there.

And after two fantastic seasons for Lewis Skelly and Nwaniri, it looks like their development path will be a little different than what the duo imagined at the start of the season.