Arsenal officially have a new star on the block in the form of Eddie Nketiah. The 18-year-old scored a brace to help Arsenal secure a victory over Norwich City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday and immediately he has grabbed all the headlines. The Englishman came off the bench and scored with his first touch of the ball. Then he added the winner in extra time.
And with his two goals, the 18-year-old(born in the year 1999) becomes the first player born after Wenger took charge of Arsenal to score in a competitive game for the Gunners.
But apart from this very amazing fact, very few people know that Nketiah was actually a Chelsea academy player before the Blues let him go back in 2015. Chelsea thought the player was too lightweight and did not want to take a chance with him. After this, Eddie moved across London and joined Arsenal and the rest, as they say, is history.
Speaking to the media after the match, Wenger firstly praised the youngster and his performance and then took a sly dig and Chelsea and their flawed youth policy.
Wenger said, “I don’t know why Chelsea decided to let him go. You see that more and more these days. Young people going from one club to another.
“I felt I was happy for him and the team. We lacked ideas and clear-cut chances. I was impressed by Norwich in defence.
“I know that he can score goals and that he has character. He is not afraid. He can give and go, and once a player has that in his game, they have a chance.”
And Wenger’s statement perfectly voices the sentiments of a lot of Chelsea fans and their concerns. Chelsea time and again have let go of players who have turned out to be superstars at other clubs. Recently former Blue, Kevin De Bruyne also spoke out about Chelsea’s flaw at the youth level and now it looks as if one other name has been added to that list.
