Paul Merson has urged Eddie Nketiah to ‘stick around’ at Arsenal, as he told Sky Sports Football (21/12/21 at 9:50 pm).
The Sky pundit thinks Nketiah needs to have ‘faith’ in his ability because he can become a ‘star’ at Arsenal.
Nketiah’s contract in north London is due to expire at the end of the season and there aren’t any signs yet that he will commit his future to the club.
On Tuesday night, he struck a hat-trick by helping Mikel Arteta’s side beat League One Sunderland 5-1 in the League Cup quarter-finals.
And now Merson thinks he needs to stay put because it might not be as easy as he thinks on the outside.
“I liked his interview,” said Merson. “He was honest. He said ‘I have been offered a contract. But I want to play football’.
“My advice as a 53-year-old that has been here for 14 years, I would say stick here. Stick here for two or three more years. He is a kid. He has plenty of years left. He will only get better and better.
“You go somewhere else to a bottom half Premier League team. Sitting playing and working on scraps. Going away games, not even getting a shot on target.
“I know he wants to play football. But there’s not a lot of 20-year-old kids leading the line in the Premier League, at the moment. That’s the way I would look at it.
“For me, this kid is a good player. He should have faith in his ability that he will be a star for Arsenal. Just stick around.”
Whatever happens with Nketiah during these coming months, one thing is for sure, Arteta is liking what he is seeing and still playing him despite his contract situation.
If he stays at Arsenal, then he has the chance to lead the line for a team that has recently stripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as captain, so a door has probably opened in that sense.
But if he thinks he needs to leave, then he probably won’t be short of any offers or two because his goals are doing the talking, at this moment in time.
Either way, at 22, Nketiah needs to find a home that will provide him with the regular minutes because he needs that to progress his career now.
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