Eddie Nketiah is now Arsenal’s top scorer in all competitions, and his goal-scoring heroics in the win over Manchester United just further underlie his importance. Mikel Arteta has always known what he’s capable of, and let’s not forget, even before Gabriel Jesus arrived and subsequently got injured, Nketiah was in fine form last season, scoring five goals in seven Premier League appearances towards the end of the campaign. Arteta was keen to persuade Nketiah to stay, and it’s no coincidence that after signing that new deal he was handed the famous no.14 shirt at Arsenal, worn by the likes of Thierry Henry, Theo Walcott and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. You just don’t get that shirt unless you’re seen as integral.
Still, Nketiah was quite close to leaving Arsenal at one point. There was firm interest from Crystal Palace, and from outside the Premier League from Bayer Leverkusen, who considered making an offer. Nketiah didn’t just have doubts about game time, although that was always going to be a factor, but last season he played a lot and that gave him firm belief in his abilities as a starter. When a player gets into the team regularly and they feel they’re at their peak, but they have doubts if they’ll play week in, week out, it can lead to them assessing their options. This is where Arteta stepped in and gave Nketiah clear and direct assurances about his role, and made him feel highly appreciated. For Nketiah prior to the end of last season and before now, maybe he did always feel a bit like a backup, he was behind Aubameyang and Lacazette until they stopped scoring freely, and even when he was on loan at Leeds he spent a lot of time on the bench. Before Nketiah signed, Arteta directly made him feel, once again, very much part of the Arsenal family, and he underlined that Nketiah would be getting more game time. Of course Gabriel Jesus’ injury helped, as before that Nketiah still featured largely from the bench, but what Arteta did was make…
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