Arsenal picked up a midweek win but attention turned to out-on-loan youngster Ethan Nwaneri after his activity while away at Marseille
Arsenal bounced back from their Premier League defeat to Manchester United over the last week to gain the upper hand in their pursuit of silverware. Mikel Arteta’s Gunners beat Kairat to round off a perfect league phase in the Champions League before cruising past Leeds in the Premier League and reaching the Carabao Cup final with a 4-2 aggregate triumph over Chelsea.
The results were achieved without Mikel Merino, who now faces a period on the sidelines with a broken foot. However, the Gunners weren’t tempted to dip too deeply into their pockets.
Just two new faces arrived on deadline day and both were teenagers. Young defender Jaden Dixon joined from Stoke City while striker Evan Mooney has made the trip south of the border after helping St Mirren win the Scottish League Cup.
Two young men who won’t feature for Arsenal in the second half of this season are Ethan Nwaneri – who remains on loan at Marseille despite tentative rumours of a recall in the light of Merino’s injury – and James Wilson, who left Hearts for Tottenham despite interest from the red side of North London. Here are Mirror Football‘s latest lines from Emirates Stadium, including updates on both of those players.
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Nwaneri red card bombshell dropped
Ethan Nwaneri impressed with a debut goal for Marseille against Lens but his midweek outing hit the headlines for different reasons. The 18-year-old was handed a first home start against Rennes in the Coupe de France but was considered lucky to escape a red card for a foul midway through the first half.
Nwaneri was shown a yellow card for a foul on Rennes’ Glen Kamara, who received treatment and was eventually substituted before half-time. However, visiting boss Habib Beye claimed the officials told him they made a mistake by not sending off the teenager.
“The match was altered by our early mistake and by that of the refereeing trio who had the honesty to admit it,” Beye said. There was no VAR in place at the match, meaning the ref’s on-field decision of a yellow had to stand.
Nwaneri was withdrawn at the break as manager Roberto De Zerbi decided not to risk him picking up a second yellow card. Marseille won 3-0, with Amine Gouiri, Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring to send De Zerbi’s team into the quarter-finals.
Wilson told he made wrong move
Hearts manager Derek McInnes believes James Wilson should have stayed at Tynecastle rather than making a deadline day move south of the border. Wilson was linked with Arsenal but instead joined rivals Tottenham on a loan deal until the end of the season.
Wilson, 18, scored his first Scottish Premiership goals last season and made his senior international debut in March 2025. The youngster has been used more sparingly this term, though, and McInnes admitted he struggled to convince him to stay with the league leaders.
“His head was turned with the Tottenham thing,” McInnes said. “First of all it was Arsenal, then Arsenal went quiet and then all of a sudden Tottenham came to the table on [Monday] afternoon.
“I don’t think it’s the right move for him. Ultimately, it’s academy football and I think he’s better than that. But it was something James wanted to do.
“So like I say, we made it clear that our preference was for him to stay and be part of something here. But he made the decision and I hope it goes well for him because he’s a great kid and we’ll see how it plays out.”
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
