Ethan Nwaneri

Official: Nwaneri joins Borussia Dortmund on a season-long loan, with no purchase option

Ethan Nwaneri, 19, has been cleared to leave. After a failed loan at Marseille in the second half of 2025/26 and the arrival of Bruno Guimarães crowding the midfield further, RB Leipzig have taken the initiative: talks with Arsenal are described as advanced, at around €35-40m, with a buy-back clause under discussion so the club keeps a hold on a Hale End graduate. Leipzig are looking for a successor to Yan Diomandé, sold to Real Madrid. AC Milan saw their €40m loan-with-option turned down and would in any case need to sell Rafael Leão to fund the move; Borussia Dortmund remain interested.

Latest development

1. 1 September: both clubs announced it early in the evening. Ethan Nwaneri spends the season at Borussia Dortmund on a straight loan, with no purchase option at all, and the German side cover his full wages. He arrives to replace Giannis Konstantelias, who tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee. It is his second loan in a row after six months at Marseille in 2025/26, and Arsenal keep him under contract until 2030: the club refused every idea of a sale for six weeks, including 35 million euros from Dortmund themselves. At 19, with 51 senior appearances and 10 goals, he leaves to find what the London midfield had stopped giving him since Bruno Guimaraes arrived.

   1 September — Dortmund have turned their interest into a lodged loan offer for the season, and Arsenal say they are willing to sanction the exit, with an answer expected on Tuesday morning. The German side are confident of getting it over the line before the deadline. Arsenal still only want a loan, and only to a destination that stands up on the coach and the style of play, which is what has already ruled out Leipzig, Milan, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.