Arsenal have reached an agreement to sign Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City but the big question is if Eddie Nketiah is good enough to act as his deputy.
After Lacazette’s exit, Mikel Arteta was able to hold onto Eddie Nketiah by making him sign a new deal and currently he is the only backup to Jesus.
The Arsenal manager seems to have a lot of faith in the youngster but pundit Paul Merson clearly thinks otherwise. Merson, while talking about the 23-year-old chose not to mince his words.
‘All Arsenal have got up front right now is Eddie Nketiah, who recently signed a new contract when it looked like he might leave,’ Merson told the Daily Star.
‘And no disrespect to Nketiah but Mikel Arteta must realise he won’t get you into the top four. Absolutely no chance. That’s a fact.
‘Nketiah can’t be spearheading your Champions League push. He’s not getting in ahead of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison at Everton and they almost got relegated.
‘He’s not getting in at Fulham ahead of Aleksandr Mitrovic and they’ve only just been promoted. I’m not having a go at him but he’s not getting you top four.’
Will Eddie Nketiah be good enough to support Gabriel Jesus?
The forward showed some real class towards the end of the previous season and apart from him, the manager also has Martinelli who can play through the middle but neither of them is Champions League material.
Arteta has managed to fill Laca and Auba’s void by signing Gabriel Jesus but he also needs to sign a backup striker asap. He needs players with proper big-game experience to be able to help Arsenal beat the likes of Spurs and Man United to the top-four next season.
Arsenal are currently being linked with several other players but none of them are proper centre-forwards so maybe Arteta is not planning to bring in another striker.
However, the Gunners are chasing Richarlison who can play as a second striker and maybe someone like him will come in and provide the link-up play from midfield to the final third.
Eddie Nketiah scored five goals in the final two months of the Premier League season and he does have a lot of potential but the Gunners need an immediate fix, something which the 23-year-old won’t be able to provide.
