Arsenal attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri has made up his mind about leaving on loan in the January transfer window, according to a report, as his decision to turn down the chance to join Chelsea in the summer of 2025 or wait for Liverpool in 2026 could come back to haunt him down the line.
Nwaneri has come through the Arsenal youth team to establish himself in the first team. The 18-year-old attacking midfielder became the youngest player ever to feature for the Arsenal first team in September 2022 when he came on as a substitute against Brentford aged just 15 years and 181 days.
Since then, the teenager, who can also play as a right-winger, has made 44 appearances for Arsenal, scoring nine goals and giving two assists in the process.
Nwaneri, though, has struggled for playing time for Arsenal this season, turning out for just 146 minutes in the Premier League and starting against Port Vale in the Carabao Cup.
Martin Odegaard’s injury issues have not opened the door for Nwaneri to stake a claim in Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s starting line-up, with Eberechi Eze and even Mikel Merino more mature and better options in attacking midfield.
According to transfer journalist Graeme Bailey in Arsenal Insider, despite his lack of playing time, Nwaneri – who has been nominated for the 2025 Golden Boy award- does not want to leave Arsenal on loan in January, with the north London club themselves not willing to send him to another club.
Bailey said: “Ethan Nwaneri is a huge part of Arsenal’s future, that’s true, but it doesn’t mean that he is not already a massive part of their present… he is and remains so.
“There is no desire from Arsenal’s standpoint to look at a loan, it is not in their thinking. Likewise, the player is not looking at a loan; it is not a consideration from either side.”
Arsenal have won five of their seven Premier League matches so far this season and are a point clear of second-placed and defending champions Liverpool at the top of the table.
The Gunners have also won both of their Champions League matches in the 2025/26 campaign.
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Ethan Nwaneri had Chelsea and Liverpool after him
Many will point out that Nwaneri is only 18, so there is no need for him to rush into playing regular weekly football at this stage of his career.
However, one must note that Arsenal also signed Eze from Crystal Palace in the summer of 2025, and he is 27 and at the top of his game.
Odegaard is 26 and is one of the finest playmakers in the Premier League, which begs the question of when Nwaneri will get a proper run in the team as an attacking midfielder.
Chelsea wanted to sign Nwaneri in the summer of 2025, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, but the England Under-21 international decided to sign a new deal with Arsenal instead.
Romano said on his YouTube channel in July*:* “Chelsea in the last 24 hours have enquired for Ethan Nwaneri.
“Arsenal and Chelsea are going to speak about [Noni] Madueke in the next hours and days… this is a separate story about Nwaneri.
“But what I can tell you is Chelsea have enquired, something like ‘if there are problems over his game-time and contract at Arsenal’, Chelsea will be ready to make a proposal for Nwaneri.
“So Chelsea have positioned themselves, telling people close to the player and telling also those who are well informed on this story that they’ll be ready to attack for Nwaneri.
“Chelsea will be there, but the ball is still in Arsenal’s court. Arsenal have the chance to extend his contract, the conversation is advanced, the player obviously loves the club, but now it’s about game-time, guarantees, project and vision to get this agreement done.”
Bailey also reported on July that Nwaneri would have the chance to join Liverpool in 2026 if he decided to stay at Arsenal and see out his original deal.
The journalist told TBR: “I’m told he’s got his pick of clubs around Europe when he’s out of contract next summer.
“Nwaneri will be one of the most wanted players. If he gets to next summer and he hasn’t signed his contract, he’ll literally have his pick of clubs from around the world.
“He’s loved around Europe. He’s loved in England, you know. He will have Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City. He will have them all on his doorstep.”
Maybe, just maybe, Nwaneri should have waited until the summer of 2026 to consider his options, as the chance to join Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester City in the immediate future has probably gone.
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