Arsenal fans have been getting emotional as a resurfaced clip of Eddie Nketiah speaking about his career with the north London club has resurfaced online.
It comes as the 25-year-old is edging closer to joining Crystal Palace, with the Eagles tabling a deal worth around £25million plus £5m in add-ons for the striker. Mail Sport understands the deal is set to be completed today.
Should he make the switch south of the River Thames, it will bring an end to his nine-year stay at the Gunners, with the English forward having joined the north London side’s academy from Chelsea back in 2015.
But amid mounting speculation over his exit, some Arsenal fans have been reflecting on the 25-year-old’s time at the club, with some becoming emotional after watching a clip of the striker speaking out on his career with the Gunners.
During the clip, Nketiah is seen delivering an interview where he talks about the difficulties he has faced breaking into Mikel Arteta’s starting eleven. The clip then goes on to showcase some of his highlights over the last few years, showing his brilliant solo strike against Nottingham Forest last season as well as his brace against Manchester United during the 2022-23 campaign.
Eddie Nketiah spoke out on his career with Arsenal on the Beautiful Game podcast
The striker, 25, is on the cusp of finalising a £30million deal to join Crystal Palace
While Nketiah has been a common face in Arsenal’s team sheets over the years, he has struggled at times to cement himself as a regular starter in Arteta’s starting XI. Last season, he made 27 league appearances in the Premier League, but would only start in 10 of those matches – notably being frozen out on the bench for Arsenal’s final six league matches of the 2023-24 campaign.
‘That’s probably my biggest frustration,’ Nketiah said during an Interview with the Beautiful Game Podcast in 2022. ‘I can’t remember a time when I’ve had three games in a row to actually play.
‘So it’s like you see all these things with that. How can you judge someone, bro? Like, if you give someone three, four games and I don’t score, that’s on me.’
But fans have been getting emotional over his potential departure, with one reposting the video on X (formerly Twitter), writing: ‘Who’s cutting onions.’
‘I love him, man,’ another added. ‘Said it all along, you can’t fully judge a player, particularly a frontman, without giving him a run of games. He’s always done well when he’s come in.’
Nketiah has struggled to cement a regular spot in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI, but has scored some excellent goals over the years
The clip reflects on some of the forwards highlights with the Gunners, showcasing his duo of goals against Manchester United back in January, 2023
One fan even urged him to go and excel at Palace, writing: ‘Never really got a fair chance, but was good enough when Jesus was out injured, which never made sense to me. Never let the team or club down. All the best to Eddie. Go shine.’
‘Whenever he’s had a run of games he’s bagged goals, but as a team, we don’t play as good when he’s up top compared to Havertz,’ another said.
One added: ‘A lot of his haters in AFC are about to see the truth. This boy is a good striker. He will score many goals, especially playing with Eze.’
Other fans believe things could have been different for Nketiah if he’d had been picked more regularly.
Arsenal fans have been getting emotional after watching the clip of Nketiah speaking on his career
‘I’ve always said this, if Eddie had consistent starts he will not be talked about the way he is now, how can you expect a player to deliver world-class outputs when he’s basically being brought off the bench every match and if he starts it’s basically 1 game and back to bench.’
‘Eddie genuinely just needs the right environment and his quality will come through. A season where he plays in every game I know he can produce 15 EPL goals at least,’ another added.
‘I genuinely pray this brother man gets the game time he needs at Palace and actually cooks because on his day he is unplayable,’ another said.
Nketiah has been an unused substitute in both of Arsenal’s opening Premier League matches this season – and would be the club’s second home-grown star to leave the club this summer after Emile Smith Rowe also left the Emirates to join Fulham in a £27m deal.
