Former Tottenham striker Darren Bent has urged Eddie Nketiah to consider ending his loan spell in the Championship with Leeds United if he continues to be overlooked.
The Arsenal forward has become frustrated with his substitute role after not starting so far in the league, despite scoring four goals in nine matches across all competitions.
Pressure on Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa to hand the 20-year-old his opportunity has increased following Nketiah's four-goal haul for England U21s during the international break, including a hat-trick in the 5-1 victory against Austria.
However, with Bielsa preferring Patrick Bamford so far this season, Bent has told Nketiah he should consider his future - or he risks never making it at Arsenal.
“To be fair to Bamford, he works extremely hard and that’s the only thing that’s keeping him in the team at the minute, because Bielsa likes a hard-working side,” he told talkSPORT.
“He puts defenders under pressure, shuts them down and runs himself into the ground, maybe that’s why he’s playing.
“But Arsenal are probably looking at this situation and going, ‘We really believe in this kid, but he needs to be playing games’.
“At the minute, he’s got an impossible task trying to move [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang and [Alexandre] Lacazette. That’s virtually impossible. But he’s never going to get the opportunity to do that if he’s not playing games.
“Maybe in January he has to look at going somewhere else.”
Championship side Bristol City have been linked with a loan move for Nketiah, and speculation has suggested that the Gunners could recall him in January, however Football.London understands that no contact has been made around that arrangement.
Meanwhile, Bent added that he has liked what he has seen so far from the young star, suggesting that he has qualities that some current Premier League marksmen lack.
“He always picks up positions on the pitch where he’s going to score," he explained.
“People might say, ‘He’s only scoring tap-ins’. But in the box, when it’s loaded with players, he always seems to be the one who finds two or three yards of space and taps it in the net. You can’t coach that.
“I’ve spoken on this show before about strikers in the Premier League who don’t have that killer instinct. This kid’s certainly got that.
“He just needs to be playing games. We’ve seen it over the years. Look at Saido Berahino, look at his England Under-21 record. It’s as good as anyone’s, but he couldn’t nail it down in the league.”
