Mikel Arteta insists it was ‘best decision’ to let Arsenal star leave despite injury woes

Mikel Arteta insists it was still the ‘best decision’ for Arsenal to allow Ethan Nwaneri to leave the club to join Marseille on loan.

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.

The 18-year-old did not even make the bench in the final four league games before he sealed a January move to Marseille until the end of the season.

Nwaneri has started every game since arriving in France but back in north London, injuries mean Arteta is suddenly short of options in midfield.

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 and was spotted leaving the stadium with a limp after the 1-1 draw with Brentford on Thursday. Eberechi Eze, one of the signings who pushed Nwaneri down the pecking order, is woefully out of form.

Arsenal are still battling on four fronts with Sunday’s FA Cup clash with Wigan Athletic a game Nwaneri would have surely started.

But Arteta has insisted it was not a mistake to let him leave mid-season.

‘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.’

The presence of Roberto De Zerbi also played a pivotal factor in the decision to send Nwaneri to Marseille with Premier League sides also interested in the young star.

The former Brighton boss left his post in France this week, however.

‘Well, I cannot control that,’  Arteta said of De Zerbi’s departure.

‘Again, it’s a decision and that’s part of playing on loan, and that’s part of a journey of a football player. So you’re going to have to work with different coaches, and that can happen any moment, you cannot control that, you cannot avoid that.’