Chelsea weren’t the only club to try and sign Ethan Nwaneri from Arsenal this summer, according to a new report.
Fabrizio Romano reports for his YouTube channel that before Ethan Nwaneri signed his new deal at Arsenal, two clubs made serious efforts to lure him away.
While Nwaneri’s contract talks with the Gunners were still ongoing, Chelsea raised the possibility of including the midfielder in their negotiations over Noni Madueke. Arsenal had no interest in such a deal and shut those talks down.
But Romano reports that Borussia Dortmund were also interested in Nwaneri, and they were prepared to invest ‘big, big money’ to sign the player. Both in terms of the player’s contract and also the transfer fee.
Romano explains that Arsenal responded with a strong offer of their own to Nwaneri, and the player ultimately decided to extend his deal and show his love to the club.
Nwaneri now has a five-year deal at Arsenal, though it’s not entirely clear whether that’s a guaranteed five years or four years with an option to extend by a further 12 months.
Either way, Nwaneri will be under contract with the Gunners until at least 2030, assuming that’s what the club want.
David Ornstein reported for The Athletic earlier this summer that Nwaneri’s camp didn’t make any game time demands during negotiations. After 37 appearances in 2024/25, it was clearly felt he’s already getting significant minutes under Mikel Arteta.
The report also added that Nwaneri is set to play a more central role in Arteta’s team in the future, as opposed to the right-wing minutes he was often handed in 2024/25.
The 18-year-old indeed played centrally in his first appearance of the new campaign, coming on for Martin Odegaard as a midfielder. Most recently, he scored and won the Player of the Match award for the England u21s over the September break.