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?