Arsenal legend David Seaman fears Mikel Arteta risks upsetting Eddie Nketiah by signing a striker amid Gabriel Jesus’ lay-off. The Brazilian is recovering from surgery on a knee injury.
Reports by football.london note that Arteta is keen to attack the January transfer window to replace Jesus. Nketiah has stood in since Arsenal lost their £45m summer signing from Manchester City. But the Spaniard still believes the north Londoners are short of options.
Jesus is unlikely to return until, at least, February having undergone surgery after suffering medial ligament damage. The 25-year-old picked up the blow during the Qatar World Cup, giving Arteta a huge blow. He had enjoyed a transformative effect at Arsenal since joining.
Only Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard (7) and Bukayo Saka (6) have score more Premier League goals for Arsenal so far this term than Jesus (5) recorded. The Brazilian had also laid on five assists across his 14 appearances, which only Saka betters with six after 17 outings.
Nketiah has since come in to lead Arsenal’s attack and has scored two goals over his three Premier League starts. The 23-year-old did not open a top-flight fixture whilst Jesus was fit. He also did not score through 12 appearances from their bench amid Arsenal’s title charge.
Seaman fears Arsenal ‘would upset’ Nketiah with Arteta’s striker transfer plans
Nketiah continued to show Arteta that he can deliver for Arsenal during Jesus’ injury in the FA Cup. The former England U21 prospect scored a brace to help win 3-0 at Oxford United. Yet he still faces a return to the bench if the Gunners sign another striker in a January deal.
Given Nketiah is scoring, Seaman also now fears Arteta risks upsetting the Arsenal product by securing another striker’s transfer. The Gunners’ iconic goalkeeper also suggests Arteta may regret signing another striker once Jesus is back if he and Nketiah continue to deliver.
“The problem you’ve got is you don’t know how long Gabriel Jesus is going to be out for,” he told talkSPORT. “If that is a shorter-term injury, then no you don’t [need to sign one].
“If it’s longer-term, then you’ve got to think about it because you don’t want Jesus and Nketiah being back at full fitness and then another striker is overload.
“Does that upset either striker? I’m sure it would upset Nketiah if he wasn’t getting game time. It is a difficult one and it all depends on the injury status of Jesus.”
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