Mikel Arteta believes that Ethan Nwaneri has benefited from his loan spell at Marseille, describing the 19-year-old as "a different man" since his return to Arsenal.
Nwaneri joined Marseille on loan in January after struggling for playing time at the Emirates Stadium, where he had made 37 appearances in all competitions during the 2024-25 campaign.
However, the Arsenal academy graduate only played six Premier League games for Marseille before falling out of favor, making just 11 appearances across his stint in France.
Arteta admits that the loan spell "wasn't ideal," but believes that Nwaneri's time away from Arsenal will ultimately "help him a lot in his career."
"On the pitch, he didn't [work] because a lot happened in Marseille," Arteta said after Arsenal's 4-1 win over Girona in their first pre-season friendly.
"But when you just stand in front of him, you sense the maturity and he looks like a different man. The experience on paper, it wasn't ideal but I think he went through something that is going to help him a lot in his career."
Nwaneri will face stiffer competition at Arsenal next season with the club closing in on a deal for Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.
Arteta refused to discuss specific deals, but insisted that Arsenal were "really active" in the summer transfer market, aiming to "improve and evolve the team."
"We are really active trying to improve and evolve the team; that's clear. We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously. We want to get better like anybody else," Arteta said.
Arteta emphasized that the margins for success in the Premier League are small, and that the team needs to increase competition internally to stay ahead.
"We need to increase the competition internally. We need to make sure we identify the things that we don't have in the team. We have bigger margins and that's the way we have to see it."
