Arsenal of England coach, Mikel Arteta has come out with a daring declaration that sending Ethan Nwaneri away on loan to Olympique Marseille of France was the best decision for the Nigerian-born winger.
Sports247 gathered that Arteta has been taken to task by Arsenal fans on the shaky start that Nwaneri has had at Marseille, while The Gunners also appear to have lost some depth on the bench since his departure.
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Though Arsenal progressed in the FA Cup on Sunday, they have been hit by a double midfield injury blow, as Mikel Merino is ruled out for the season and Kai Havertz will miss a month, leaving many fans at Emirates Stadium talking about Nwaneri.
Furthermore, with Arsenal now looking slippery on the English Premier League table, where Manchester City cut The Gunners’ lead at the top to only four points during the past week, pressure is mounting on Arteta to step up.
However, the gaffer refrained from agreeing that Nwaneri would have been one of the lads to make things happen for Arsenal as things get tougher in the season run-in.
The Spaniard took another look at the unfolding scenario at Arsenal and insisted that sending Nwaneri to ‘OM’ was the right decision.
Arteta said: “It is unfortunate, but ultimately we have to make the decisions based on the situation here and now, with an understanding of the context we are in, and what is best for the club and for Ethan.
“For him, it was clearly the right decision to experience a different environment, and get ready to return to us. When the decision was made, no one could have predicted that Mikel would be out for five months and the same with Kai.”
