Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri will gain a lot from his time at Marseille, but what about the influence of former Gunner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang?
Ethan Nwaneri will join Marseille on loan for the remainder of the season (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Ethan Nwaneri’s loan move to Marseille makes a lot of sense. A chance to work with Roberto De Zerbi, play regularly at a high level and get a feel for the big European clubs and environments. It’s very exciting.
And one slightly more glaring question remains: What about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang? Few players have fallen out with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as spectacularly as Aubameyang, and there are one or two.
Aubameyang, 36, is a big presence and personality in the Marseille dressing room, but is he really so positive about Arsenal and their manager?
Learning and observing other players is a big part of the loan experience, and one has to wonder about Aubameyang’s recollections and memories of one of the most dramatic fall-outs between a manager and a star player in the Premier League era.
To be fair, Aubameyang revealed that he had a “great message” from Arteta after parting ways with him last year, and the former Arsenal striker said he was open to separate talks.
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However, one of the reasons why Nwaneri went to Marseille was because he missed games for Arsenal. He has never started in the Premier League and his last start was in the FA Cup at Portsmouth, where he played well.
The player was persuaded to stay at Arsenal last summer with the manager saying he would get big contracts and opportunities, which is why Nwaneri turned down Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea.
You never know how things will turn out, but it’s hard to imagine Nwaneri playing fewer games for either club than he did for Arsenal.
There will be some frustration as a player loved by Arsenal fans, who have seen his skill and potential. They want him to play as well. And now he needs to leave Arteta and Arsenal to get there.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has failed to give Nwaneri regular minutes this season (Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
It was a very bad farewell for Aubameyang, and a rather prolonged exit that saw him sent off, dropped and forced to leave in a very public scuffle.
It was a direct competition. It was undoubtedly one of the defining moments of Arteta’s reign. It was a gamble to eliminate Arsenal’s main player, a crowd favorite and top scorer.
But Arteta felt he had been treated unfairly and could not allow his senior player, now captain, to create a bad atmosphere in the dressing room with his timekeeping.
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The first big fall came in March 2021, when Aubameyang entered the North London derby late and was officially dropped. Rather than finding a diplomatic answer, Arteta made himself public. Aubameyang cited poor traffic as the reason for his tardiness. At that moment, the trust between the two collapsed.
In fact, they had a strong relationship even before that, and it was Arteta who actually persuaded Aubameyang to sign a new contract after winning the 2020 FA Cup, which remains the Arsenal manager’s only trophy to date.
It eroded from there. I returned late from an authorized visit to see my sick mother. Not taking a Covid test. He is stripped of his captaincy.
And, incredibly, he was photographed in Barcelona on the day of the February 2022 deadline. It was initially described as a shopping trip. But the results were very clear. Arsenal concluded the deal and Aubameyang joined Barça.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mikel Arteta in the 2020 FA Cup before their relationship soured (Image: PA)
He then moved to Chelsea. Arsenal fans now have more Arteta than Aubameyang, who has expressed his love for the club despite the defeat.
But it’s clearly a calculated risk on Arsenal’s part. The biggest thing Nwaneri needs to add to his game is pressing. That’s why he’s not on the team. If he wants to play as number 10, he has to lead the press like Martin Odegaard.
De Zerbi builds a pressing team. He can instill it in Nwaneri. But every dressing room lesson is just as important.
That’s why it seems like a strange movement. But Aubameyang will always remain in the hearts of Arsenal fans. And nice words, encouragement and much-needed help to Nwaneri will go a long way in ensuring a full kiss and make-up.
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