The young Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah was lauded as the future of Arsenal after being incredibly prolific through all the youth levels, and also within the England youth teams. He is even now the record goalscorer for the England U21 side and has been named as captain of the Young Lions by Andi Boothroyd for this week’s Under-21 European Championship.
But he has been left out in the cold by Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and hasn’t even been named in his matchday squad for the last 8 games. Ahead of the Young Lions opening game against Switzerland at lunchtime tomorrow, Nketiah has revealed his frustration: “It is a part of football but one that obviously you don’t want to be involved in,” he told Football.London.
“I believe in my ability so obviously I think I am capable of playing and helping the team so obviously it is frustrating not playing but you have to channel that frustration in a good way, use your time wisely to work hard and prepare for when that opportunity arises.
“I am grateful to have this opportunity to play at this tournament, to express myself and have fun, get a smile on my face again and play football. I want to do everything I can to help the team do something special.”
JustArsenal published an article about the future of Gabriel Martinelli yesterday, who is also waiting to get some time on the pitch after his injury, but at least the Brazilian has been watching from the bench instead of the from the gym.
Does this frustration mean that Nketiah will be moving on this summer?
Sadly not the answer.
Time for Eddie to seek pastures new, particularly in light of the possible Martinelli “conversion” to through the middle.
I agree AJ.Perhaps we could use Eddie and AMN as part of a deal to get Bissouma from Brighton?
“Two birds with one stone” comes to mind Grandad.
I cannot think of one Arsenal game in which he’s played and stamped his mark on the match.
There is no doubt that with hard work, the right playing environment and plenty of game time he will develop into a decent centre forward…Maybe the standard of someone like Teemu Pukki…but thats about it!!..A player more likely to score goals in the Championshio than the Premier League.
He doesn’t seem to have any of those attributes that will make him stand out…pace,athleticism an uncanny ability to sniff out goals.Arteta has given more than enough chances (more than he was given by Bielsa in the Championship).This being the case..fingers crossed he’ll do fairly well in the Euro U21s and Arsenal will be able to get a reasonal price from him.
If only he used 50% of chances he’s been given.
It’d be great to transfer out a home-grown player in terms of raising the transfer funds. He won’t be missed here and he’ll help the club get closer to buying quality players we miss.
His transfer alone can fund us at least 50% of a backup LB transfer.
Sadly it just never came together for Edie. He never broke through to the next level in terms of production. Perhaps he would have been better served going on loan again, or to a side that could maximize the abilities he has.
Unfortunately Martinelli is the far far brighter prospect and needs that extra game time, his time I feel is up, and his transfer can generate much needed funds