Ethan Nwaneri is set to join Marseille on loan after the French club agreed terms with Arsenal, with the deal involving a significant loan fee, no purchase clause, and incentives tied directly to minutes played.
According to The Times, Marseille are expected to pay more than £2.5 million as a loan fee for Ethan Nwaneri, depending on appearances, and there is no option to buy.
The loan is also believed to include a clause that penalises Marseille if Nwaneri does not play enough, with the expectation that the move is designed to deliver regular game time.
Nwaneri has started only four of the 12 matches he’s played this season, playing 515 minutes, compared with 16 starts in 37 appearances last season.
Fulham and West Ham also showed interest in a loan deal with the Hammers rebuffed, while Bournemouth denied they wanted to sign him despite being heavily linked.
After Nwaneri made his 50th appearance for the club last month, Mikel Arteta said: “I want to see how many examples there are in English football with that number [of games] and age.
“If somebody were to say two years ago that number, with the squad we have, probably we would go, ‘Hmm, it doesn’t sound realistic.’ ”
Asked about the move after Arsenal’s win against Inter Milan on Tuesday night, in which Nwaneri was on the bench, Arteta did not dismiss it but was vague in his response.
“We have a discussion this week,” Arteta said. “Obviously, he’s not having the minutes that probably he deserves and needs at this age. We will address the situation and see what’s best. Let’s see. We have to sit down and discuss how we want to move that forward.”