Arsenal needs to rectify this Ethan Nwaneri mistake before it's too late

Ethan Nwaneri's loan spell has been a disaster so far. If Arsenal does not swallow their pride and recalls him, then they risk him wasting another few months of his career.

Recently, Mikel Arteta made the decision not to recall Ethan Nwaneri. The reason is that he sees the loan move to Ligue 1 as being an invaluable part of his development. In Arteta's thinking, if Nwaneri continues to make appearances, he has more leverage to make his way into the Arsenal XI.

Since joining Marseille, though, Nwaneri has not played the full match on any occasion. He's made four appearances, but these have all been cut short by being benched or coming from the bench.

Sure, Nwaneri is getting more minutes for Marseille than he would have done for Arsenal. However, the feeling can't be helped that his loan move away from North London would have been more beneficial elsewhere.

Arsenal faces a no-brainer Ethan Nwaneri decision

Recently, Roberto De Zerbi left Marseille. Without a doubt, being coached by one of the best tacticians in the game would have been a reason why Arsenal sent Nwaneri to Marseille in the first place. Now that the benefit has been taken away, and the future of Marseille remains unclear, it's becoming harder to justify Nwaneri being there.

Still, you could argue that there is no bad experience as a young footballer. Marseille remains in a pretty promising spot, and they're only 12 points behind the current leaders Lens. There's still everything to play for, and Nwaneri has never shied away from making a name for himself.

Ethan Nwaneri has already produced a few stellar moments in his career, none less than scoring a screamer against the Premier League champions of the time, Man City. There is every possibility that he could have a telling moment in Marseille's next chapter.

That remains merely a possibility, though. What's more likely is that Ethan Nwaneri will continue on the same trajectory that he's had at Marseille so far, that being a slow trajectory. The French side is showing little trust in his abilities right now, and if De Zerbi didn't trust him, it's hard to imagine his successor will think differently.

The dilemma is made all the more complicated by Arsenal suffering injuries to key positions. With both Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz now out injured, there's never been a better time to recall Ethan Nwaneri. Arsenal couldn't forecast these injuries, but they have a player available to recall who could easily protect against them.