Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah priced himself out of making a move to London rivals Crystal Place late in the transfer window.
That’s according to talkSPORT and their transfer insider Alex Crook, who has been speaking about the failed move before the deadline.
Crook claims Crystal Palace did make a move for Nketiah, but haggling over a fee with Arsenal wasn’t the problem.
Instead, it was Nketiah’s lofty wage demands and the fees his agent wanted that resulted in Palace pulling the plug.
“One Premier League chief executive said the problem with the Crystal Palace deal wasn’t Arsenal’s asking price,” said Crook.
“It was the demands of his agent, in terms of agent’s fees, and it was Eddie Nketiah’s wage demands that have priced him out of a move from Arsenal this transfer window,” he added.
Nketiah is represented by Elite Project Group Ltd, the same agency as Bukayo Saka, Alex Iwobi, Reiss Nelson, Folarin Balogun, Chuba Akpom and Jonathan Dinzeyi – all with Arsenal connections.
Nketiah is inside the final year of his contract at Arsenal and his future now looks unclear with a new contract seemingly far away and the transfer window now closed until January.
The 22-year-old may still have a chance to impress at Arsenal, especially with Mikel Arteta thinking he is ‘extraordinary’, but missing out on playing regular football at Palace feels like an opportunity squandered.
Look at the deal Palace struck for Odsonne Edouard instead; £14million rising to £18.5million with around £70,000-a-week in wages.
If the money for Nketiah had been similar, we may have seen him join the Eagles instead – but Nketiah must now press on at Arsenal this season with his future very unclear.
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