Nketiah contractual situation proof that Arsenal still haven’t learned their lesson
Eddie Nketiah has a contract at Arsenal until the summer of next year. That means if the Gunners decide to move him on this summer, they can hardly negotiate a fee which they would have liked.
You have no right to say that the Gunners are in a good situation with Nketiah.
The 21-year-old is the top-scorer and the captain of the U21 England side. He is homegrown and young, with huge potential.
Liverpool sold Rhian Brewster for £23.5 million, who hadn’t even made a single appearance in the league. While Arsenal will see their England’s U21 top scorer leave for a nominal fee if he does not sign a contract extension.
And it doesn’t look like they will hand him one.
The transfer and contractual decisions that the club have made in the past half a decade has been ridiculous. They have invested massively in players such as Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis, Alexis Sanchez, Lucas Perez and Danny Welbeck.
However, money received from those sales was a big fat zero. Alexander Lacazette appears to be the next in line who would be sold for a nominal fee.
Although Arteta has previously said that he is happy with Lacazette, and would indulge in talks with him in the summer, they would be expected to sell one of Aubameyang or the Frenchman.
The Gabon international will be 32-year-old in June, and would not be expected to play on the wing for the remainder of his three-year contract.
Moving our attention back to Nketiah, the 21-year-old will hardly gain anything from the rest of the season. If Arsenal saw Martinelli getting back to fitness at the end of December, why did they not contemplate letting Nketiah go on loan, or even permanently?
We can ask countless questions without getting any answers from Arsenal Football Club.
The Englishman’s value is decreasing by each passing day. Unlike (let’s take an example of Lingard) Lingard, whose contract is expiring next season like Nketiah, but whose market value is surging due to the impact he is making at London Stadium.
At a point where Arsenal desperately need money for their rebuild, damaging the value of such a prized asset who will garner attention elsewhere was a huge failure on the club’s part.
Yash Bisht
Connect with the writer via Twitter/Instagram: @yarsenal09