Mikel Arteta makes Ethan Nwaneri admission amid Arsenal midfield injury blows | OneFootball

Teenager could have been useful to Gunners with two stars missing

Big miss: Ethan Nwaneri

AFP via Getty Images

Mikel Arteta insisted Arsenal have no regrets over sending Ethan Nwaneri on loan to Marseille.

However, just a few weeks later, Arsenal find themselves short in that area of the pitch.

Martin Odegaard has only just returned from injury himself, and he limped through the mixed zone after Thursday's draw with Brentford having taken a heavy blow to the knee.

Nwaneri would likely have featured on Sunday when Arsenal host Wigan in the fourth round of the FA Cup had he still been at the club, but Arteta dismissed any suggestion the Gunners made a mistake in loaning him out.

"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.

"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 get ready to come back to us."

A further frustration to Arsenal came earlier this week when Roberto De Zerbi left Marseille.

After Nwaneri's loan was confirmed, Arteta spoke glowingly about De Zerbi and said the Italian was a key reason why Arsenal had trusted Marseille with the teenager's development.

"Well, I cannot control that," Arteta said of De Zerbi's departure.

"Again, it's a decision and that's part of playing on loan, and that's part of a journey of a football player. 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.

"I think that's going to be still very positive."