He made his professional debut at 15! Borussia Dortmund are reportedly considering a spectacular loan deal as a replacement for Konstantelias
In Borussia Dortmund's search for a last-minute replacement for Giannis Konstantelias, who is set for a lengthy spell out through injury, a top candidate is now seemingly emerging.
According to Sky, Borussia Dortmund are now focusing primarily on Ethan Nwaneri. Sporting managing director Lars Ricken and sporting director Ole Book, who did not travel to the DFB Cup game at Oberliga side HEBC Hamburg (Tuesday), are currently looking into whether a loan move for the Arsenal attacker would be possible.
For BVB, that could help: they already tried to sign Nwaneri last year. Dortmund wanted to push through a permanent transfer then and, according to Sky, Nwaneri was also keen on a move to Dortmund. However, the Bundesliga club and the London side could not reach an agreement in the transfer talks.
Those talks could now be easier because contact had already taken place in 2025. BVB are said to have other options on their list, but according to Sky, Jadon Sancho is not playing a major role. Speculation over another return for the former Dortmund player, who is still without a new club after the end of his contract at Manchester United, gathered pace quickly after the Konstantelias shock.
Nwaneri would offer a similar profile to the Greek, whom the German runners-up had only recently signed from PAOK Saloniki for a fee of 26 million euros. In his first two competitive appearances for BVB against Bayern Munich (Super Cup, 1-2) and Hamburger SV (Bundesliga, 2-0), Konstantelias had made an immediate impression, but against HSV he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture and is therefore out for months. Dortmund now need to move quickly in the transfer market, with the summer window in Germany closing on Tuesday (1 September) at 8pm.
Are BVB signing Ethan Nwaneri from Arsenal?
Arsenal's stance could be the problem with Nwaneri, though, as they are reportedly more open to selling the 19-year-old than sending him out on loan again. In the second half of last season, Nwaneri spent time on loan at Olympique Marseille and managed two goals and one assist in 11 appearances for the French side. Overall, though, the spell was rather disappointing, and Nwaneri barely featured for Marseille in the final weeks of last season.
Born in London, the attacker was once seen as a super talent at Arsenal and made his Premier League debut in September 2022 as a 15-year-old. However, the England Under-21 international has still not made his definitive breakthrough with the Gunners, even if he has repeatedly shown flashes of his immense potential. In total, Nwaneri has so far made 51 competitive appearances for Arsenal, where he is under contract until 2030, scoring ten goals.
