Nketiah has had a summer to remember, and we at Arsenal hope that it culminates to him finally waving his heartfelt goodbyes to reignite what is turning out to be a dwindling career.
In eight seasons at Arsenal, Nketiah has made 168 appearances, scoring 38 goals but for the entirety of his time at the club, he has failed to nail down a starting berth, playing second fiddle to pretty much any leading striker at the club, and to some extent, some midfielders as well. There was a time when we would go with the excuse of Nketiah being a youth player and waiting for his time, but as he got older, it became more evident that he was never going to become the No. 1 striker at the club. One would have thought that Arsenal losing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette would have afforded Nketiah the chance to show up and show out, but Gabriel Jesus came into the scene and most recently, Kai Havertz.
Folarin Balogun was in the trenches like Nketiah, but he bet on himself and moved to Stade de Reims in France, scoring goals with reckless abandon, before fellow French side, AS Monaco, came calling and Balogun moved away from Arsenal permanently. Prior to confirming his move to Monaco, Balogun had met with the manager, Mikel Arteta, for assurances of first team football, and when it was evident that he wasn’t going to get it at Arsenal, the only logical move was to depart from the club, which is why I was puzzled why Nketiah continued to remain in the dugout with no hope of starting in sight.
This summer, fellow Hale End bench man, Emile Smith Rowe, realized that his prospects of playing regularly at Arsenal were slim to none, and in a couple of weeks, he moved to Fulham, where he has shone like the bright star we always knew he was.
Then Nketiah did what we had been expecting for weeks – seek pastures anew from the shores of the Emirates Stadium.
Olympique Marseille seemed like a good destination, with the narrative being ‘Eddie Nketiah moving in the same direction with Flo Balogun’ and Ligue Un would have been a perfect brooding ground for the Englishman, but unfortunately, the move broke down, and it was back to the drawing board for Arsenal and Nketiah’s representatives. Next up was Nottingham Forest, a club renowned for signing a host of players in positions already covered, but hey, who cared right? Nuno Espirito Santo already has Taiwo Awoniyi and Chris Wood in his ranks, but he wanted him some Nketiah. A proposed fee of £30 million was agreed with Arsenal and a green light was given for Nottingham Forest to finalize proceedings with the forward, but Nottingham Forest pulled the plug after they failed to agree personal terms with Nketiah.
That caused some outrage from the Arsenal faithful, as many postulated that Nketiah probably chose the greedy route or probably not interested in joining a struggling Premier League outfit that flirts with relegation season in, season out, leaving Nottingham Forest no choice but to call it quits. The latest update on the transfer saga regarding Nketiah is that Crystal Palace has made a bid of £30 million for his services. I would expect Arsenal to accept this bid and Nketiah will negotiate with Crystal Palace for an imminent move. The club is based in London, where he resides, currently on the rise under the tutelage of Olivier Glasner and he stands a good chance of actually being a first team player with only Jean Phillippe Mateta to contend with, as Odsonne Eduoard is linked with a move out of the club.
I really hope this move comes into fruition because Nketiah’s time at Arsenal is done, and that will be an additional 30 million quid in the coffers. Hopefully, Arsenal will look to reinvest in a forward that would have the right quality to contend with Havertz, as Gabriel Jesus remains an injury doubt this campaign.
Sayonara.
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