Mikel Arteta has provided fans with a positive update regarding the future of striker Eddie Nketiah.
Nketiah, 22, will be out of contract with the Gunners at the end of the season and although there is mounting speculation the English forward could move on this month, manager Arteta appears adamant the club want to retain his services.
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Speaking in a scheduled press conference ahead of his side’s FA Cup Third Round tie against Nottingham Forest this weekend, when asked about the future of Nketiah, Arteta said: “I already spoke about Eddie, about how I feel about him, the intentions of the club and where we are.
“He’s with us – every day he shows me and the club that he wants to stay with us.
“I will keep having those discussions with him but he knows that we want him at the club.”
Nketiah would have to be an idiot to stay at Arsenal. This is just not a team that treats its players; from top to bottom, well. Arteta has shown himself to be thin-skinned and someone who holds grudges, and Arsenal, since Arsene Wenger’s departure, have demonstrated an almost pathological hatred of paying players well.
The club signed Mesut Ozil to a big contract, and almost at once began whinging about the cost. The same thing occurred with Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. With Nicholas Pepe, the team paid a lot, and even though he performed better than Bukayo Saka last year, he has been glued to the bench this year. How any player’s agent could look at Arsenal’s record in this regard and say; ‘yes, go there, you will be treated well and the team will support you if everything is not perfect right away.’ If you are a well-sought-after player; like Dusan Vlahovic, for example, you have to think,, i’ll go elsewhere because even if the the money is truly enormous at Arsenal; the fans and the management will turn on me at the first problem.
Right now, this team is stuck; especially if, as expected, Aubameyang, Nketiah, Lacazette, as well as all five first-team loanees (Bellerin, Guendouzi, Saliba, Mavropanos, and Torreira) go between now and next summer.
How Arsenal will replace its entire strike force without slipping down a few places is hard to envision. Lacazette, Aubameyang, and Nketiah is impossible to envision. Balogun is not ready and Vlahovic has said publicly he was not interested in Arsenal.
There is no other ‘top 4’ striker available Arsenal could sign. The players they already have are all better than the supposed options. Assuming Auba is done and will not play for the Gunners again, who can Arsenal sign who will give them mroe than Lacazette? Laca, playing part-time, is scoring more than Ollie Watkins and Dominic Calvert Lewin. tomi Werner is not playing well at Chelsea, so might be available, but he is not in Lacazette’s class in the PL. Alexander Isak scored 4 goals in half a season for Real Sociedad. Amine Gouiri for Nice (8 goals) and Karim Adeyami (14 goals, Salzburg) are options, but would they really outperform Lacazette?
All of Arsenal’s striker eggs are in the Vlahovic basket and if the bottom falls out and he won’t come, it is impossible to see the team improving if they lose all three of their current front men. which seems close to a certainty.
I disagree with you concerning Pepe. He had his chance at the beginning of the season and was a flop. One cannot blame Arteta for that. Only one player at a time can play in a position. For now those playing are producing results.
Martinelli like him was on the bench from the beginning of the season but trained hard and is now doing great.
We don’t have European footbal where he performed well last year with against those lesser teams from abroad.