Arsenal have looked weak in front of goal this season with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang not providing as much of a presence in attack like we are used to.
The team has only scored ten goals in nine Premier League games with three of them coming in one game.
And there seems to be a striker crisis brewing at the club as Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette’s contract is set to expire in the summer.
Nketiah’s departure will annoy Mikel Arteta more than Lacazette after the manager compared him to other great young strikers in Europe in his pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Leicester.
He said: “Every time he’s got a chance he takes that chance. There are other players involved in those positions. He’s the same as other players without many minutes because we have not had any games in Europe unfortunately this season. We have to manage that situation and reward the players that they deserve.”
This is big praise from the Arsenal boss regarding the youngster who is set to leave in the summer if the contract is not renewed.
He was on the verge of leaving the club in the previous summer transfer window as Crystal Palace registered serious interest in the Englishman.
The two clubs had been negotiating a deal which led to the Eagles tabling an £8 million bid but it was rejected as the Gunners valued him at around £12 million.
Due to this being on deadline day it meant the club were unable to offload him, which was a disappointment at the time.
Arteta had seemed to prefer Folarin Balogun who recently signed a new contract at the club and gave him his first Premier League start in Arsenal’s opening day defeat against Brentford.
Balogun failed to impressive in that match and hasn’t been given a look in since, as Nketiah has been given the nod in Carabao cup fixtures where he has impressed.
The 22-year-old’s value and game time would have likely increased if he hadn’t been injured at the start of the season and the club had qualified for Europe.
Young strikers with potential have benefited from the European exposure during their career and it is where they have made a name for themselves with Erling Haaland being the biggest example.
Still at a young age, the Norwegian international has been ruled out with multiple injuries this season that has also seen him game time limited.
With Arteta’s positive comments about Nketiah, it seems the club are prioritising renewing his contract.
If they fail to do this by January then the club must look down the avenue of selling him to prevent losing him on a free transfer at the end of the season.
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