Arsenal told they made mistake letting Hale End starlet go: ‘Don’t care if he’s happy or unhappy’
Arsenal should not have allowed Ethan Nwaneri to join Marseille on loan, even if he was disappointed with his lack of minutes.
That is the stance of former Gunners winger Perry Groves when discussing the Hale End graduate’s future on the latest episode of Inside Gooners.
Nwaneri is spending the second half of the season on loan in France, having started just four matches for Arsenal in the opening months.
However, despite a move to Marseille offering him fresh chance for more game time, the 18-year-old has played just 306 minutes in total.
Back in north London, his parent club are still gunning for glory in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Competing on four different fronts means manager Mikel Arteta has to rotate his starting line-ups in a bid to avoid injury issues.
Nwaneri may well have featured even more had he stayed at the club, and Groves believes it was a mistake for him to be allowed to leave.
“The one thing I’ve always said, is I couldn’t believe they let Nwaneri go,” he said ahead before their 2-1 FA Cup win over Mansfield Town.
“I don’t care, you can’t have too many bodies, even if you’re not giving them game time and those players are not getting into a squad of 20, who cares?”
Inside Gooners host Nick Bright suggested: “There’s probably a little bit of player management there, in terms of just keeping him happy.”
However, Groves reiterated: “Who cares?”
“I think the problem was Roberto De Zerbi left,” Bright added on the lack of minutes for Nwaneri at Marseille.
“I think there were certain assurances, because Arteta wanted him to play under De Zerbi, and then De Zerbi’s gone.”
“But he can be unhappy at the end of the season, do you know what I mean?” Groves replied. “I don’t care if he’s happy or unhappy.”
Minutes over silverware?
When further dissecting Nwaneri’s move to Marseille, Harry Symeou tried to imagine the player’s reasoning for agreeing to an exit.
“From Nwaneri’s point of view, I know you want to play and you want to develop. But, wouldn’t there be a part of you…,” Symeou began.
“If Arsenal go on to win multiple trophies, I know you played the first half of the season with us, so you did play your part.
“But I don’t know if I’d want to miss out on that. If I’m 17, 18 years old, I’m not looking at my career and going, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got a limited amount of time left’. I’m not at that stage yet.
“I would have wanted to be a part of it so, I’m surprised that if he did, because I don’t know that he did. I’m surprised that he pushed as hard as he did to go to Marseille.”
In response, Groves said: “I think he just wanted to play. I think he realised that…
“We mentioned where he plays, (Martin) Odegaard’s in front of him, (Eberechi) Eze’s in front of him, (Mikel) Merino’s in front of him and he’s like, ‘I ain’t getting any game time.'”
“Again, I can’t speak about what happened behind the scenes because I don’t know,” Symeou continued.
“But if I was Nwaneri, my argument would not be, ‘I need to go and play elsewhere’.
“My argument would be, ‘Odegaard’s not playing that well this season. Eze’s been hit and miss, if we’re being honest about it. And Mikel Merino’s a bit of a utility man, centre forward, centre midfield, deeper in the midfield. Give me a chance’.
“I’d have been banging that drum, I think. Maybe he did, and it fell on deaf ears.”
However, Groves then explained: “You’ve just enhanced what I said.
“Because of that reason, he still wasn’t getting any game time, and he’s like, ‘No, I want to go and play’. They should have said to him, ‘I don’t care, you’re staying here.'”
“(Myles) Lewis-Skelly will be the same,” he added. “At the end of the season, and the players will know it, there’ll be four or five that ain’t going to be there next year.
“Lewis-Skelly will probably come in against Mansfield and either play at left-back or even play in midfield, because that’s where he wants to play, then he might be another option.
“But those two players I’ve mentioned there, they probably won’t be there next season because they’re at a stage where they want to play and they think, ‘I’m not going to be third-choice or fourth-choice’. But, you’ve got to be ruthless.”
Hale Endings
Whilst there is plenty of time remaining in the season for situations to change, Arsenal could bid farewell to another two academy stars.
Nwaneri, who became the youngest player in Premier League history in 2022, joined the Gunners at the age of eight.
He has since made 51 senior appearances in all competitions, scoring ten goals and assisting as a teenage talent.
Lewis-Skelly also signed for Arsenal aged eight, and the now 19-year-old has featured 65 times for the first team.
The versatile defender started 26 games for the club and earned his first England call-ups last season.
Like Nwaneri, Groves has hinted at a summer exit, especially when he has made only one Premier League start this season.
It wouldn’t be the first time that popular Hale End stars have made permanent moves away from Arsenal.
Emile Smith Rowe made regular first-team appearances after his days in the academy before joining Fulham in 2024 in a £34million deal.
A more recent move saw Ayden Heaven join their historic Premier League rivals Manchester United in February 2025.
Folarin Balogun and Eddie Nketiah also opted for pastures new, with the strikers joining Monaco and Crystal Palace respectively.
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