Crystal Palace have been tipped as the ideal club for Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah by pundit Noel Whelan.
The 22-year-old has struggled for playing time with the Gunners, despite often looking like a promising young player with plenty of potential for the future in his time at the Emirates Stadium.
Nketiah rose through Arsenal’s academy alongside other current first-team players like Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, but there’s so much competition for places up front that it’s hard to see him getting regular opportunities any time soon.
Whelan thinks Nketiah would do well to leave Arsenal for a move to Crystal Palace, where he could be a fine fit for the style of play being put together by Gunners legend Patrick Vieira, who took over as manager in the summer.
It remains to be seen if Nketiah will be on the move in the near future, but it’s easy to see why Whelan thinks the switch to Selhurst Park could be ideal for the England Under-21 international.
“I think somebody like Crystal Palace. That would probably work well for him,” Whelan told Football Insider.
“He’s a young player. I think Patrick Vieira is liking that style and that energy about a younger side now.
“When you look at the strikers that they’ve got in Benteke and Edouard, they’re very similar. They don’t really have a Nketiah kind of player. I think that might be a balance that might be quite nice for Patrick Vieira.
“When you’re thinking about a good, young British player that knows the league already, he’s perfect. Vieira is looking to bring players in and transform this Crystal Palace team.
“I think he’d probably get more guarantees of getting more minutes with Crystal Palace than he would with Arsenal.
“We see the style of football they’re playing. It’s attractive, it’s good to watch it’s energetic. I can see him fitting in really well there at Crystal Palace, if they decide that is a player they want to have on their books.”
Arsenal fans may be disappointed to see a homegrown player leaving, but academy coach Ken Gillard recently spoke to CaughtOffside about why fans can expect more top talents like Saka and Smith Rowe to make it into the first-team in the near future.