Amongst the chaos of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s pre-match revelations, Mikel Arteta’s unchanged team and the 3-0 cruise over Southampton, some minor talking points in the match that have much larger ramifications have largely gone unnoticed.
In the build-up to the match, Mikel Arteta had been speaking hopefully regarding striker Eddie Nketiah. The young striker has just six months remaining on his Arsenal deal at the opening of the January window.
The hope has been from Arteta’s perspective to renew his contract but has found it difficult to reach an agreement with the 22-year-old leading to suggestions he could be sold in January.
"Well, Eddie has six months left in his contract and we are having discussions with him and the agent to try to find the best possible way. Eddie knows how much I rate him, and I like him - and I would like him to stay at the club," said Arteta when asked about the striker's future.
Much of the Arsenal fan base have questioned the Spaniard’s desire to hold onto a player who has barely started for the club and in his few showings had minimal impact at an elite level.
There is no doubt that Nketiah is a talented player, but considering the club are on the hunt for a striker in the coming months, his first-team prospects appear slim and a move away makes sense.
Interestingly however as Alexandre Lacazette was being brought off against Southampton for Arsenal’s final change, Arteta decided to move Nicolas Pepe in line to make an appearance over Nketiah.
This is a surprise considering Nketiah was brought on against both Manchester United and Everton with Pepe remaining an unused substitute.
Many fans have, like with the decision regarding Nketiah, questioned Pepe’s lack of game time and pondered why he was not brought on instead of the Hale End graduate when the Gunners were in need of a goal.
Could Arteta have responded to the outcries seen on the social media platforms and heard by the frustrated groans at the substitutions in the grounds? Perhaps. However, Arteta has gone on record a number of times to suggest he pays little-to-no attention to what fans are saying about him online.
"I prefer not to," he said when asked about whether he read abuse he had previously received on social media. "But I think we are all exposed in this industry to that.
"That’s why I prefer not to read because it would affect me a lot more the moment that somebody wants to touch my family.”
He has numerous times made decisions which the majority have been surprised by on a regular occasion.
Yet, the decision to leave Nketiah on the bench could still signal that he has given up on giving the player opportunities in the side in an attempt to keep him at the club.
Pepe’s future has also been in doubt and Arteta again has rebuffed claims that he could too leave in the future.
“No, and it is not the moment to talk about that either", Arteta said at the end of November when asked about a possible sale in the new year.
"We are interested in Nico performing at the level that he can do. He had some really good moments since I have been here, some moments where he hasn’t participated that much, like everybody else.”
The minutes of both Pepe and Nketiah are sure to be monitored closely in the festive period as rotation becomes a priority. If neither gets many opportunities, if any, it could provide further clues as to their future with Arsenal.
Make sure you have subscribed to The Arsenal Way! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Arsenal content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Tom Canton from the TAW team to keep up to date with his work.
