Eddie Nketiah has become somewhat of a forgotten man at Arsenal at the moment, as we enter his sixth week without a minute on the pitch for the first team.
It’s not just that Nketiah isn’t playing at the moment, but he doesn’t even seem to be close. He hasn’t made the bench in the last six Premier League fixtures, after making 14 appearances in the first 21 games of the campaign.
Nketiah’s goal record hasn’t been spectacular in 2020/21, scoring five in 1,113 minutes. Admittedly, Arsenal were very poor at making chances (with or without him) from October to December, so it seems a little harsh to judge solely on that. At one point he was Arsenal’s top scorer, as we saw how the team’s struggles affected the other first-team strikers as well.
But I’m not necessarily trying to make an argument for Nketiah’s reintroduction. Mikel Arteta has to pick the best players available to him, and right now Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are rightly favourites for starts. Gabriel Martinelli seems to be next in line up front, and his track record suggests he deserves that spot too.
So what’s the problem?
My primary issue with the Nketiah situation is the timing of his absence from Arteta’s first-team squad. Up until the very last game in January, he was with the team in the Premier League every week. Whether he started or not, he hadn’t missed out on a single matchday squad all season long.
Since then, he hasn’t even featured in a league squad once. He’s made both of the Europa League benches, but you’d have to imagine that’s largely just because there are extra squad spaces in the competition.
I’m certain Arteta didn’t intend it this way, but he effectively kept Nketiah believing he was in contention for Premier League minutes until the day the January transfer window closed. If the 21-year-old had dropped out of the squad a month earlier, it surely would have significantly increased the likelihood of a decision to go out on loan.
Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles knew they were going to struggle to play in the second half of the season, so they joined Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion. Reiss Nelson also knew his situation, and even though he couldn’t find the move he wanted, at least he wasn’t under any delusions about what things would be like staying at Arsenal.
By contrast, Nketiah didn’t even have the option to make an informed decision. In the week before deadline day, he made a start against Southampton and a substitute appearance against Manchester United. After that, his exclusion came at a time when there was no other way for him to play senior football.
Mikel Arteta’s explanation
Speaking about Nketiah’s recent lack of minutes this week, Arteta took responsibility and admitted it was simply because they have so many players available right now. There’s no suggestion whatsoever of an attitude problem or any off-field reasons to leave him out.
“This is one of the hazards to leave someone like Eddie out of the squad, but at the moment everybody has been fit and we have so many options up front,” Arteta said. “But it hurts as well because of how Eddie behaves and trains every day and because he’s a player from our academy, but he will have his chance.
“He needs to be patient and he’s showing no signs of lacking attitude or anything like that, it’s the complete opposite. He’s a joy to work with and he deserves minutes and if he doesn’t get it, it’s just my fault.”
It’s good for Arteta to admit that, but it just seems like poor planning has cost Nketiah the last six weeks of football, and possibly the next few months to come.
At the very least, Nketiah could have been playing matches with the Arsenal u23s, just as Nelson has been. Folarin Balogun was out injured for a couple of weeks anyway, there was an opening in the squad for another striker.
U21 European Championships at risk
What will be particularly worrying to Nketiah and Arsenal is that the u21 European Championships are coming up, and he likely won’t have played any football in the build-up to the event. The group stage takes place during the March international break, before the knockout stages from 31st May to 6th June.
You’d hope the England u21s’ record goalscorer would make the squad anyway, but whether he’ll be sharp going into their matches is another matter.
I know people like to write off youth competitions as being unimportant, but a lot of supporters and scouts tune in to these sorts of events. If Arsenal want Nketiah to get a good loan or permanent transfer this summer, the u21 Euros is one way to market him.
It worked for Jeff Reine-Adelaide, who earned his move from Angers to Lyon on the basis of his performances at the 2019 Euros. Serge Gnabry joined Werder Bremen (with a release clause to move to Bayern Munich) after his displays at the 2016 Olympics. These international youth events matter for the careers of the individuals involved in them.
So you can’t just dismiss Nketiah’s situation, even if you’re one of the fans who thinks Arsenal should move on from him. Whether Arsenal plan to keep the striker long-term or want to cash in this summer, they haven’t done enough to help their own cause so far.