Arsenal star Ethan Nwaneri finally handed huge Marseille boost as ‘agreement’ reached

In all of those matches and his last five games in charge, Beye deployed a back five or three with it therefore likely that is the formation he uses in his new post. Perhaps surprisingly, that tactical decision will come as a boost to Nwaneri.

De Zerbi floated between formations during his time in charge with Nwaneri fairing better as one of two No.10s in a 3-4-2-1 set up. He scored just 13 minutes into his debut against Lens with Mason Greenwood as the other attacking midfielder behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

In the Champions League, with Nwaneri ineligible, De Zerbi went for back-four systems. That was also the system deployed for last weekend’s 2-2 draw against Strasbourg, with Nwaneri an unused substitute.

Considering his reduction in minutes, the exit of De Zerbi and no European football for the second half of the season, Nwaneri will likely be pleased to see a coach come in that will be able to utilise him in the best possible way.

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings

Getting more minutes was a big reason for Nwaneri heading elsewhere in January but injuries in midfield would have likely resulted in him playing much more over the last few weeks.

When asked if he had any regrets over letting Nwaneri leave on loan, he said: “[Laughs] That’s easy to say. 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.”