Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri sent warning by Marseille coach over replacing Mason Greenwood

Marseille head coach Habib Beye has warned Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri that parts of his game still need to be ‘much stronger’.

Nwaneri joined Marseille on loan in the January transfer window and he has scored two goals in nine appearances for the French club.

Marseille face Monaco in Ligue 1 on Sunday and with Mason Greenwood unavailable due to suspension, Nwaneri has been tipped to make his sixth start for the French side.

However, Beye believes the 19-year-old still needs to improve defensively.

‘Ethan has great qualities, he’s a great talent who needs to adapt to the intensity of Ligue 1,’ Beye said.

‘We saw that when he came on against Lille, he scored but when we analyse his performance overall there are still aspects of his game that need to be much stronger in terms of counter-pressing, his defensive efforts to win the ball back.

‘He seems like the ideal replacement in Mason’s absence but we also have the opportunity to change our system and our playmaking, so we have several choices and choice with quality players.

‘Ethan is a young player who needs to understand, arriving at Marseille, he comes from the Premier League, from a big team in the Premier League but he also arrives in Ligue 1 at a very, very high level club and inevitably the adaptation takes a little time.

‘What’s very good is that he scored for the national team. Sometimes with the national team, you get playing time, and that’s very positive for us.’

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