Eddie Nketiah - From joining at 14 to journeying to the No. 14, it's been Eddie's calling and it's time to live it

By -
Even though Arsenal are bound to bring in another striker this summer, Eddie Nketiah will be oozing confidence when the new season gets underway.


The young striker wants to be an important part of a project, which was why he had seek to move on but Arsenal have done well to convince him to continue his adventure at the club.

For his performances in the later stages of last season, he has been rewarded with a bumper new contract that will see him remain at the club until the summer of 2027.

The 23-year-old was linked with a move away from the Emirates at the turn of the year having found chances hard to come by even when the first choice strikers were misfiring.

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette could not deliver in the system employed by manager Mikel Arteta, leading to both leaving the club in the winter and summer respectively.

Eddie Nketiah, has been on the books at Arsenal having being released by Chelsea in 2015, and became a popular name amongst the Arsenal fans when he came off the bench in the 85th of a Carabao Cup match against Norwich City.


He scored 15 seconds after coming on to restore parity at 1-1 and went on to grab a brace and completed the comeback in extra time to seal a 2-1 Arsenal win.

He spent time on loan at Leeds United in the Championship and return to the club looking to establish himself as a regular but that will not happen with the presence of Aubameyang and Lacazette.

With both gone and a striker is expected to come in, Nketiah will be fine playing second fiddle to only one striker, knowing he will get his chances to convince the manager in the Europa League.

Nketiah has made 91 first team appearances for Arsenal, most of which has been a substitute. He has 23 goals for the club as well.

He will wear the No. 14 shirt next season, a number that bears a lot of importance for everyone attached to the club as it is the number used by Thierry Henry, whom many considers the greatest to ever grace the club.


Eddie Nketiah managed 10 goals last season for Arsenal, only Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe had more and with the club back in Europe, the striker will be afforded a lot of minutes to impress and even compete for league starts.

His form towards the end of last season shows he is a striker that well fits into the Mikel Arteta system and the manager will be glad to call on him if needed at any point of the season.

A new Arsenal is anticipated next season and it's already getting busy with transfer business as players already joining while many others are still expected to follow suit.


Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ralf Rangnick proffered a permanent solution but United choose to make more casualties with Erik Ten Hag

By -
Image
Ralf Rangnick appeared to have unraveled the puzzle at Manchester United during his short stint as the club's interim manager but the hierarchy did not take heed to his priceless advice. Albeit the German did not enjoy the best of time in the helm of affairs in Old Trafford, Rangnick, who had proven to be more of a administrative minded man prior to his appointment at the club did left blueprints that could have healed the club completely. Looking back and you'll realize it could have been more worth it had speculations of him becoming the club's Director after leaving the Coaching role come to pass. Even in his early days as a professional football coach, Rangnick did not have a reputation of thriving when the stake is high but he flourishes more in an environment that gives him the avenue to build from scratch. The notion was proven truth during his time at Stuttgart, Hannover and even Schalke, where he helped all these teams finesse nightmares into glamour. His appointme
Read more

Doping in sports and the popular culprits in football

By -
Image
Doping in sports is a huge crime as it damages its credibility, and athletes are viewed to have committed an offense when they test positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PED). What is doping ? According to Merriam Webster defines doping as the use of a substance (such as an anabolic steroid or erythropoietin) or technique (such as blood doping) to illegally improve athletic performance. In sports, such action is regarded as cheat, and grave consequences always come with it. Not only that, but on the players' part and their safety, as in the long run, such substances have a long-lasting side effect on the health of the players. Why do athletes dope (take illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PED)) ? There are several reasons take illegal performance-enhancing drugs, and it also depends on the type of sports the athletes in question do. The majority of the reasons is to boost performance. Athletes are also tempted when injured and do not have enough time to recover before
Read more

A sign of what is to come but no excuse for Chelsea's late capitulation in the London derby

By -
Image
Chelsea ended a run of three straight home defeats to Arsenal in an enthralling London derby match in the Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. While many will see it as a positive omen for the host, which is rightly so, it was very poor game management by both the players and the manager to allow the visitors snatch a point later on the night. Arsenal was there for the taking. It was the worst display by Mikel Arteta's side in recent years and despite having a two goal cushion, Mauricio Pochettino's side were unable to see out the win from a very comfortable position. Cole Palmer and Mykaylo Mudryk continue to show signs of finally settling into their rhythm under Mauricio Pochettino, much to the delight of the home support as the Blues were all over their rival from the North for the first 70 minutes in the Bridge. Both players also scored in either half, with Mykaylo Mudryk scoring his first ever Chelsea goal in the Stamford Bridge with a wonderful cross-cum-shot, which caugh
Read more