Borussia Dortmund loanee Ethan Nwaneri has looked back upon his appearance in the Emirates Cup clash against the side with Arsenal last month.
The 19-year-old has joined the Bundesliga side on a season-long loan from the Gunners where he'd hope to gain some valuable playing time.
An unfortunate injury to Giannis Konstantelias forced the BVB to dip into the market once more and snapped the Englishman on deadline day as a temporary replacement for the Greek.
Now in his first interview with the side, the Englishman opens up on scoring against Dortmund to now joining them less than a month later.
"I was definitely happy about the goal. But now I’m glad to be here. It feels great."
With Dortmund leading 2-0 at the start of the second half, Nwaneri pulled one back for Arsenal in the 54th minute, although Joane Gadou almost instantly restored their two-goal advantage minutes later.
Viktor Gyokeres also got on target from the penalty spot later, but Dortmund held on to prevail 3-2 and clinch the Emirates Cup in London.
Despite his goal though, Nwaneri's future remained in the air. He wasn't part of their matchday squad for the Community Shield while remaining an unused substitute in the league opener to Coventry City.
A move away from Emirates beckoned and it finally arrived on the last day of the summer transfer window, which Nwaneri labeled was 'hectic'.
"It’s definitely hectic. A lot goes on behind the scenes. But you just have to keep your eyes on the goal. And keep your fingers crossed. We pulled it off. And now I’m here."
The player also revealed the fast pace at which negotiations proceeded once Dortmund made their interest in him known.
"Right. As soon as I heard about BVB’s interest and we had a meeting, everything moved very quickly. Within just a few hours, there were advanced talks going on behind the scenes. So, as soon as I found out they were interested, I was ready to make the move."
At Dortmund, Nwaneri is now expected to find valuable gametime that aids his development into a serious attacking player before returning to Arsenal next summer.
The Prussians don't have an obligation to buy him permanently at the end of his loan term and have agreed to cover his entire salary for the 2026-27 season.
Dortmund had been linked with Nwaneri last summer too but a transfer couldn't materialize after talks failed over a fee, although the midfielder later joined French side Marseille on loan in January.
Add us as a preferred source on Google