There is a raging debate going on whether Arsenal should recall Eddie Nketiah from loan in January. The young English striker is yet to start a game in the Championship and rumours have emerged that the Gunners can call him back in January to send him elsewhere.
The Gunners happy with Nketiah
However, the reports from the Sun now conveys that Arsenal will not cut short Eddie Nketiah’s loan spell at Elland Road. Bristol City and some Premier League clubs seem to be interested, but the Gunners are happy with where he is right now.
This should be a big boost for the Whites even though Marcelo Bielsa has ignored the striker so far. Nketiah came close to starting once, but he missed out due to an injury. By the time he recovered, Patrick Bamford had improved his form after going on a goal drought of 10 games.
Why might a new striker take months to settle in?
There is no doubt that United will have to sign someone else if they lose Nketiah in January. Liverpool youngster Rhian Brewster has been linked, and he is a player similar to Nketiah’s capabilities. However, Bielsa clearly places vast importance on new players adapting to his system and integrating into the team properly. Hence, a new striker would probably take one or maybe two months to get close to getting first-team football.
Nketiah has been at the club for some time now, and he must have adapted to the system as Bielsa was willing to hand him a start. Hence we believe that Nketiah will come good in the second half of the season as the Argentine boss will probably be not that hesitant to hand him a start like in the first half of the campaign.
However, it quite clear that Bielsa prefers Bamford and the former Crystal Palace forward does a lot of things right in the build-up play. Nketiah has managed to change the game off the bench on quite a few occasions, and he has three goals and one assist to his name in the Championship even though he is yet to start.
His pace and directness has been a difference-maker in the last quarter of the game with the opposition defenders tiring out. Hence, Bielsa will probably persist with him as an impact substitute for now. However, with the busy part of the season approaching, Nketiah should get his chances soon. Hopefully, the Englishman would stay on and takes his chances with both hands when he gets to start.
