Fabrizio Romano reveals two ‘special’ Ethan Nwaneri clauses with big hint on Arsenal future

Fabrizio Romano has indicated that Arsenal still very much see a future for Ethan Nwaneri at Emirates Stadium after revealing the pair of crucial demands they made to Borussia Dortmund when sanctioning the teenager’s loan.

Having spent a spell on loan with Marseille last season, the Arsenal record-breaker – the Premier League’s youngest-ever player when he made his debut at 15 years and 181 days at Brentford in September 2022 – is on the move again, this time joining Borussia Dortmund on a season-long loan.

The Bundesliga giants have a brilliant reputation for developing young talent, particularly English players, with the likes of Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham, and Jobe Gittens just three examples in recent years.

Arsenal will hope that Nwaneri’s career development also explodes at the Westfalenstadion, having joined on a contract until June 2027, and with our transfer correspondent, Graeme Bailey, explaining at the time the agreement was announced that Arsenal made it crystal clear that they were simply unwilling to adhere to the permanent transfer option that BVB were looking to include.

Indeed, providing further insight into this, Romano says that Arsenal would only sanction Nwaneri’s loan without a permanent clause, explaining why another concession – a recall clause – was “crucial” in Borussia Dortmund being able to get his signing over the line.

“And then I also want to discuss something to explain to you how it works for one of the exclusive stories on deadline day, Ethan Nwaneri,” Romano stated on his YouTube channel.

“I told you first news of the deadline day, early morning, I think it was 7, 8am: Nwaneri to Borussia Dortmund, here we go.

“My understanding is that it’s a straight loan, no buy option clause, no buy obligation, but Borussia Dortmund have conceded to Arsenal, and it was a crucial condition.

“Without that condition, the deal was not going to happen. Borussia Dortmund have accepted to include a specific recall clause in the deal with Arsenal.

“They paid a loan fee and the salary of the player for Ethan Nwaneri. But if Arsenal activate the recall clause for Ethan Nwaneri, and it’s not at any moment of the January window in terms of the timing of the clause, they will concede Borussia Dortmund eventually some time to find a replacement if they want to recall Nwaneri.

“But apart from the timing, in terms of money, if Arsenal trigger the recall clause for Ethan Nwaneri, Borussia Dortmund get their money back from the loan fee. They only cover the salary, eventually.

“So this is how it works: this special clause into the contract of Ethan Nwaneri.”

Arteta was ready to block Nwaneri loan

All things considered, those two clauses tell you all you need to know about Mikel Arteta’s true thoughts on the 19-year-old attacking midfielder, amid reports earlier in the summer that suggested Arsenal were ready to let him leave for good.

In fact, the opposite is true, and Arteta will hope the loan in Germany will give Nwaneri the minutes he needs to truly take his game to the next level, something he was unable to guarantee at Arsenal this season amid strong competition in his position.

Indeed, according to BILD, Arteta needed some convincing before green-lighting the loan and even considered blocking it at the last minute.

As it is, the midfielder can now look forward to what should be a highly productive spell in the Bundesliga, and with an instant debut on the horizon for Niko Kovac’s side, the player has admitted that a chat with Jobe Bellingham – himself at the Westfalenstadion, following in his brother’s footsteps – convinced him to make the move.

“As soon as I heard about BVB’s interest and a meeting took place, everything developed very quickly,” he told the club’s official website.

“After just a few hours, there were advanced talks taking place behind the scenes.

“As soon as I learned of their interest, I was ready to leave.”

He added: “I’ve spoken to Jobe in the last few days.

“He asked, ‘What’s going on with you?’ And I told him that I couldn’t really say yet.

“But we talked a lot. And he kept saying that I should come to BVB. I’m happy that we’ll now be playing side by side.”