French club Marseille have agreed a deal to sign Arsenal midfielder Ethan Nwaneri on loan for the rest of the season. BBC Sport previously reported that Nwaneri was not expected to go on loan this season, with the original feeling from both club and player being that the 18-year-old would benefit by being part of a squad that is challenging for a title.

However, the prospect of playing football in another league and country while getting regular game time is a scenario that is appealing to the player. The England Under-21 international has made just 12 appearances for the Gunners in all competitions this season, starting four games but none in the Premier League, and has scored once in the Carabao Cup.

Nwaneri signed a new contract in the summer until 2030, but he has found his route into the first team challenged by the signings of Noni Madueke for £48.5m and Eberechi Eze for £67m. Nwaneri's taste of regular minutes last season has raised his expectations and having to fight for game time at a club like Arsenal has not surprised him, but with two England internationals ahead of him, regular minutes have been hard to come by.

Eze himself has struggled to break into the Arsenal starting XI in recent weeks and has played 23 minutes in the Gunners' last six Premier League games. He has been an unused substitute in four of those matches.

Last season, Nwaneri played mostly on the right wing and scored nine goals in 37 appearances in all competitions to mark himself out as one of England's most talented young players. But with Madueke the first choice as back-up to Bukayo Saka, and Eze the number 10 to challenge captain Martin Odegaard, the two positions Nwaneri would fit into have become harder to get.

Arsenal are having an excellent season and are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, have a 100% record in the Champions League, and in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup they hold a lead over Chelsea from their first leg. The Gunners are hoping to end their wait for a trophy this season and have signed a number of players including midfielder Martin Zubimendi, Eze, and striker Viktor Gyokeres as "win now" signings.

That has meant that manager Mikel Arteta has looked at using players with experience to get results with Odegaard and Zubimendi preferred in midfield, while the Spaniard has favoured both Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie at left-back this season. Hincapie has experience of winning a league title after being part of the Bayer Leverkusen side that won the Bundesliga in 2023-24.

That has made things difficult for Nwaneri's fellow academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly. Lewis-Skelly also took his chance during Arsenal's injury crisis last season, making 42 appearances in all competitions, including playing in both games of the impressive Champions League quarter-final win over Real Madrid. Lewis-Skelly's performances were so good that he was given an England debut by Thomas Tuchel, scoring against Albania in a 2-0 win and looked set to be the Three Lions' starting left-back at the World Cup.

Game time hasn't been as hard to come by for Lewis-Skelly and he has started in nine of his 23 appearances this season, but he has started just once in the Premier League and has dropped out of the England squad. It is always going to be hard for young players to break through from the academy into the first team at a club like Arsenal without any dips in form.

But after two excellent breakthrough seasons for Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri, it looks as though the development path will be slightly different to what the pair imagined at the beginning of the season.