Eddie Nketiah apparently fell foul of Mikel Arteta in Arsenal‘s latest training session.
Arteta put the Gunners through their paces today ahead of Monday night’s FA Cup third-round clash with Oxford United.
And according to Football London, Nketiah, who earns £100,000 per week at Arsenal [The Sun], irked the Spanish manager at London Colney today.
According to the publication, Arteta can be heard saying, ‘you are jogging, that’s why you lose the ball…’ to the in-form striker after losing possession to Marquinhos.
It is unlikely to have been a scathing remark, but it is illustrative of the standards that Arteta demands from his Arsenal players in training.
Nketiah has been brilliant since becoming the North Londoners’ first-choice hitman, following the injury to Gabriel Jesus.
The former Leeds United loanee has some scored against West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion after Christmas.
He is really silencing the critics who questioned whether he is good enough to fill the goalscoring void left by the Brazil international.
And although nothing is proven yet, he is certainly doing a good job at keeping the naysayers quiet for now.
Whether he starts against Oxford will be interesting.
An injury to Nketiah threatens to derail Arsenal’s season entirely but with no other number nine option available, Arteta may have little choice but to keep playing him there, regardless of the opposition.
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