Darren Bent has admitted on talkSPORT that the ‘jury is still out’ on whether or not Eddie Nketiah is good enough for Arsenal in their pursuit of Champions League qualification.
Mikel Arteta must now rely on Nketiah and fellow summer free agent Alexandre Lacazette to fire the Gunners into Europe. The Spaniard sanctioned a last-ditch departure for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on deadline day, with the Gabon ace due to join Barcelona for free.
Aubameyang had fallen seriously out of favour in north London following Arteta stripping the 32-year-old of the captaincy. He played the last of his 14 Premier League games for the season on December 6 at Everton. His brief substitute outing failed to return his fifth goal.
Arsenal had no issue scoring without Aubameyang against Southampton, West Ham, Leeds and Norwich. But after striking 14 in four games, have scored once over their last two with Manchester City and Burnley. They also failed to net in the Carabao Cup against Liverpool.
Bent questions if Nketiah is ready for task now before him at Arsenal
Bent questions if Nketiah is ready for the task now before him at Arsenal with Aubameyang out the door. The 22-year-old has only featured in four Premier League fixtures so far this term for 51-minutes, is yet to start a match and is yet to either score or provide an assist.
Instead, all five of Nketiah’s goals for the season so far have come in Carabao Cup ties. But only one came against a top-flight side in Leeds and even then, the England U21 star almost missed. After rounding Illan Meslier, his bobbled hit only just bounced over the line in time.
Bent now wonders if Arteta has the firepower at his disposal in Nketiah and Lacazette to secure Arsenal’s return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2016/17 term.
“There’s half the season left and you’ve got Nketiah, with question marks over whether he’s good enough at the top level,” Bent said. “The jury is still out on that one.
“We know he scores goals in cup games, but does he score in the Premier League? I know he hasn’t had the opportunity, but that’s a question mark.”
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