Ethan Nwaneri reveals which Arsenal player told him to join Marseille as Gunners starlet arrives in France to finalise loan move

The Gunners invested heavily in their first-team squad last summer as they brought in English pair Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze from Chelsea and Crystal Palace respectively. However, this has impacted Nwaneri's game time for the Premier League leaders, with regular opportunities few and far between for the teenage forward.

It's a far cry from Nwaneri's breakout 2024-25 campaign, where he made 26 league appearances for Mikel Arteta's side, 11 of which were from the outset. By contrast, the 18-year-old, who signed a new deal with the Gunners last year, has been limited to just 166 minutes of Premier League action across six substitute outings, the most recent of which came in the dying embers of Arsenal's 4-1 win over Tottenham back in November.

Nwaneri made just his fourth start of the season in a 4-1 FA Cup third round win over Portsmouth last weekend, and he'll be hoping for a more prominent role for title-chasing Marseille in the coming months. The midfielder was wanted by a number of Premier League sides and teams across Europe this month, but opted to make the move to the Velodrome.

And Nwaneri has revealed that centre-back William Saliba was the one who convinced him to make the move to the French outfit. Saliba joined Arsenal in 2019 before returning to former side Saint-Etienne to continue his development.

The France international then spent the second half of the 2020-21 campaign on loan with Nice and then moved to Marseille for the 2021-22 season. And it was with OM that Saliba really established himself as one of the best young centre-backs on the continent as he made 36 league appearances for the French powerhouse.

The 24-year-old returned to the Emirates in 2022, and has gone on to become a star player for Arsenal. Indeed, Saliba is one of the first names on the teamsheet for the Premier League title contenders, starting 118 of a possible 136 league games since breaking into the starting XI for the 2022-23 season.

Nwaneri will be hoping for a similar rise in first team opportunities next season, and has admitted: "William Saliba told me OM is one of the best clubs in the world."

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Nwaneri will also hope that the opportunity to work under Roberto De Zerbi works in his favour as the England Under-21 international seeks to fully realise his immense potential. De Zerbi took over as Marseille boss in 2024 and guided the Ligue 1 powerhouse to a second-placed finish in his first season at the club.

Marseille, however, currently find themselves off the pace in the title race. De Zerbi's men are eight points behind surprise title contenders Lens, and seven off defending champions and fierce rivals PSG after 18 games.

And yet despite an indifferent campaign to date, Nwaneri reserved praise for the Italian boss, adding: "Roberto De Zerbi is also one of the best coaches in the world."

Marseille will hope to pick themselves up quickly following Wednesday's disappointing Champions League defeat to Liverpool. De Zerbi oversaw a 3-0 loss to the Reds at the Velodrome as Dominik Szoboszlai, a Geronimo Rulli own goal and a late Cody Gakpo strike capped a miserable evening for Nwaneri's new side.

The home defeat leaves the Ligue 1 outfit on nine points and in the Champions League playoff spots, though just one point above Napoli and FC Copenhagen in 25th and 26th, respectively, ahead of the final league phase matchday in Europe's elite club competition.

And Marseille face a testing week as they gear up for a top-of-the-table clash with Lens before a trip Club Brugge in the final round of Champions League matches. The Belgian side claimed just their second European win of the season at the expense of Kairat Almaty in midweek, and they're now just one point off the playoff spots and two behind Marseille.