Mikel Arteta says right decision to let Ethan Nwaneri leave Arsenal

ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta insists it was still the ‘best decision’ for Arsenal to allow Ethan Nwaneri to leave the club to join Marseille on loan after the decision was made to let him get some minutes in France.

Nwaneri broke into the first-team last season but big spending at the Emirates in the summer saw him pushed down the pecking order, starting just four matches in all competitions – none of those in the Premier League.

His lack of game time meant that he wanted to leave Arsenal during the January transfer window, and when Marseille came calling, it was an easy decision for the attacker to make that move to French football.

Mikel Merino could be out for the rest of the season having undergone foot surgery this week with Kai Havertz sidelined again with a muscle problem. Martin Odegaard has also struggled with a knock in recent weeks, while Eberechi Eze is woefully out of form.

But despite the challenges that Arsenal could face between now and the end of the season, Arteta has claimed that it was still the right decision to allow Nwaneri leave the club on loan in January: ‘That’s easy to say,” Arteta said. ‘After making the decision, who could have predicted that Mikel was going to be out for five months and Kai?

‘It’s unfortunate, at the end we have to make the decisions on the moment, understanding the context there.

‘The best decision for the club, for Ethan, for sure it was for him to go and experience a different environment, have minutes played, and get ready to come back to us.’

WAS IT THE RIGHT DECISION FROM ARSENAL?

Look, if he stayed at Arsenal in January he would barely play for the Gunners, he would just be sitting on the bench, but since his move to French football, he has played every game for Marseille.

It was the right decision at the time because ARSENAL have so many players that can play in so many positions.

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