Arsenal are ready to let Eddie Nketiah leave the club and join Marseille after the Ligue 1 club submitted a loan offer with a £25.6m obligation to buy, according to reports.
The 25-year-old has been eager to gain more consistent playing time after being largely limited to a substitute role within Mikel Arteta’s squad and now looks set to join former Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi in France.
The Gunners academy product has been a primary target for Marseille, with the two clubs going back-and-forth during negotiations as they attempted to find a suitable agreement.
Arsenal are now happy to let Nketiah leave after finally reaching an agreement with Marseille, as reported by The Athletic.
The French side – who signed Mason Greenwood from Manchester United last month – will have the final say on whether to proceed with the transfer after monitoring Nketiah during pre-season training with Arsenal.
Arsenal are reportedly ready to let Eddie Nketiah leave the club and join Marseille in a loan deal with an obligation to buy
Nketiah has been part of Arsenal’s pre-season training while Marseille have tried to negotiate a deal
Marseille manager Roberto de Zerbi is keen to bring in further attacking reinforcements
Personal terms have already been agreed with the striker who is set to put pen-to-paper on a five-year contract as he prepares to become the latest English star to move abroad.
Nketiah previously looked set to leave north London as a free agent in 2022 before being rewarded with a long-term deal that was expected to coincide with more regular starting opportunities.
He was also given the club’s iconic No.14 shirt previously donned by Thierry Henry but made only 10 Premier League starts last season as the Gunners finished runners-up behind Man City for a second consecutive year.
Nketiah’s game time has been limited under Gunners boss Mikel Arteta in recent seasons
The arrival of Gabriel Jesus from Man City in 2022 dropped Nketiah further down the pecking order at his boyhood club with Arteta preferring the Brazilian upfront.
Kai Havertz then further usurped Nketiah’s attacking position in the squad when he joined from rivals Chelsea at the start of last season and scoring 13 goals during his debut campaign.
Should Nketiah’s move to France go through then he would represent a second Arsenal first-team academy star departing after Emile Smith-Rowe recently joined Fulham.
Nketiah has made 168 appearances across all competitions for Arsenal, scoring 38 goals and registering seven assists.
