Arsenal: Welbeck, Lucas all in the name of Eddie Nketiah

Arsenal look to be parting ways with two aging strikers, but that’s okay, because this is all being done in the name of Eddie Nketiah.

Arsenal are scooting close to the sales of both Danny Welbeck and Lucas Perez. The two aging strikers are expected to make their exits from the club this summer under rather different circumstances.

Welbeck has had opportunity after opportunity, but has never been able to fully capitalize, while Lucas Perez has had very little opportunity, and therefore never been able to capitalize either.

Both still carry a degree of promise, as well as a good amount of clear and present value, but there comes a time when you have to shed the weight before it becomes a burden and focus on more important things – like the wave of youth.

When you look at the handful or so of young players that are really starting to establish themselves, you have to think it a special group. We’ve had these collections before, but rarely have they already been making first-team inroads like this current group is.

In the name of that group, we should not be bothered at all seeing Welbeck and Lucas leave, because it is all being done in the name of Eddie Nketiah.

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As it stands, with the Fab Four running the show in crucial competitions, there isn’t a lot of room for other players to try to make their mark. Lucas and Welbeck would not have been okay with that, but then, where can you actually put them to make them happy?

You put them in the other competitions. The FA Cup, the Europa League and the League Cup all could serve as launching points for the two strikers, still desperate to make that leap into the big time.

But then where do you fit Nketiah?

With how set the first team is, you really don’t want to lose Nketiah in the mix, or confine him to far off reserve duties and substitute duties in the lesser competitions. That’s what he already was last year and his progress needs to reflect his usage.

No, Nketiah deserves more than that, and he is getting it, at the cost of two veteran guys who could potentially offer more in the here and now.

But the here and now isn’t the problem, and that’s why this is the right choice. Let Nketiah take the reigns. The kid has earned it.