It is telling that even as Arsenal’s attack has toiled at times this season, there have been few people questioning the club’s decision to sell Eddie Nketiah in the summer.
The Gunners banked £30million by selling the striker, who they will come face to face with again twice this week in the space of four days as Arsenal take on Crystal Palace.
Had he still been at Arsenal, tonight’s Carabao Cup quarter-final is exactly the game that Nketiah may have started. The striker was lethal in that competition during his time at Arsenal, scoring 11 goals in 14 games.
Gabriel Jesus will most likely get the nod for Arsenal tonight as he desperately tries to spark his season into life.
The Brazilian has scored once in his last 33 games, with that goal coming at Preston in October in the last round.
Some will argue Nketiah could have offered more than that, but the fact is Arsenal could not turn down £30m for a player who was never going to remove Kai Havertz as the team’s first-choice No9.
Given Nketiah was a homegrown player, the value of his sale was even greater due to the constraints of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
The temptation would have been to perhaps keep the 25-year-old as an option off the bench, but in reality that has never suited him.
There was a misconception around Nketiah that he was some form of super-sub, perhaps due to the brace he scored off the bench on his home debut in 2017, but he actually performed best when starting.
There was a misconception of Nketiah being a super-sub, but he actually performed best when starting
Last season, only one of his six goals came after he was brought off the bench. The season before that, all nine were scored when Nketiah started.
The striker would have been aware of that and it is why both he and Arsenal agreed that this summer was the right time for him to move on in search of regular game time.
The Gunners were not desperate to sell, though, as shown by the fact they rejected a £25m bid from Nottingham Forest and dug their heels in until deadline day because the club were determined to get the fee they wanted.
Palace was always Nketiah’s first choice, given they have scouted him for years and he also grew up in Lewisham.
Injuries have led to him getting off to a slow start, but two games against his old club could be the perfect turning point.
