Arsenal have agreed a new deal to keep Eddie Nketiah at the club beyond the summer, with his previous contract having been set to end in the next fortnight.
The forward broke into the manager’s first-team plans when Alexandre Lacazette was ruled out with injury late into the season, and firmly took his chance with both hands.
The forward starred in victories over both Chelsea and Manchester United to give us every chance of securing Champions League football, only for our side to lose away to Spurs and end up just missing out on the top four.
While it had been reported that we were set to strike a new deal with our academy graduate, it was seemingly a worry with time ticking down on his contract, but we have finally sealed his future as confirmed by the club’s official website.
I’m happy that Nketiah has signed, but I do have reservations about what this means in regards to our transfer strategy. We had been linked with bringing in both a new striker and a new forward this summer, with a return to European football needing to be addressed also.
With both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette needing replacing, surely we will still be in the hunt for both a striker and a forward to give us the depth needed to compete in a number of competitions this season, but it remains to be seen if our budget will allow us to strengthen in all the needed areas.
I personally believe we need another man in central midfield, to improve our backup fullback options, as well as bring in someone who can play both as the striker and in behind, but my hope is that the latter two aren’t combined into one.
Saying that, somebody like Lautauro Martinez who can fill both roles in spectacular fashion then I may happily take that back, but at present, it doesn’t appear that we are working on a player of that calibre.
Do you think our club was waiting on Nketiah before making their other transfer moves?
Patrick
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