Mikel Arteta laughs off Arsenal regret question after new injury blow amid Nwaneri loan call

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has laughed off the question of whether he and the club regret sending Ethan Nwaneri on loan amid a growing injury crisis in the youngster’s attacking midfield position

Mikel Arteta laughed off suggestions of any regret about sending Ethan Nwaneri on loan to Marseille ahead of an FA Cup tie he would have certainly featured in.

Arsenal take on Wigan Athletic in the fourth round of the competition, after beating Portsmouth in the last round. The Gunners have been fortunate to draw back-to-back lower-league opponents, giving them a chance to rotate the side.

With a game against Wolves on Wednesday ahead of the North London Derby at the weekend, it is in the Spaniard’s interest to switch things up and rest his key league starters.

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However, he will not be able to call on Nwaneri who left the club in late January to join Marseille on loan. Nwaneri scored for the Gunners in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace and started against Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round.

The club and the player agreed that, given his lack of regular game time, the best solution was for him to go on loan to France. He has since started and scored on his debut since the move, but came in for some criticism for his display in the 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

With recent injuries to Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz, some had scrutinised the decision, but Arteta laughed off a question in his pre-match press conference asking about whether he has since had any retrospective regrets of letting him leave.

“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, and 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 getting ready to come back to us.”

One of the core reasons behind choosing Marseille was Roberto De Zerbi’s presence as manager but the Italian has since left the club less than a month of Nwaneri’s arrival. Arteta, however, was steadfast in his response when asked if this, too, was a frustration for him and Nwaneri.

“Well I cannot control that, again it’s a decision, and that’s part of playing on loan, and that’s part of a journey of a football player,” he said.

“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.

“Yes, one of the reasons for sure it was Roberto, but as well it was Marseille, and what Marseille as a club and as an environment brings to Ethan, and I think that’s going to be still very positive.”

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