Arsenal: Eddie Nketiah will pay a return on the investment

Arsenal have a peripheral decision to make regarding Eddie Nketiah’s future, but as long as they keep investing the faith, he’ll start paying dividends.

Arsenal lost to Tottenham in the League Cup quarter final, and that sucks, but I’m doing my best to dig for the optimistic, glittering nuggets that I hope turn out to be gold and not pyrite. One such nugget was the relatively early introduction of Eddie Nketiah.

With the game in a desperate state, the young striker was called on to bolster an attack that was already boasting the presence of Aubameyang and Lacazette, the defacto front two.

With half an hour to play with Nketiah didn’t do much, but you could tell two things: 1. His heart was in it and 2. He is going to pay dividends on the faith being invested in him. And to Unai Emery’s credit, it did require some faith to put Nketiah in there. Granted, his options were limited.

While Nketiah didn’t do all that much, he didn’t look out of place for a moment. For half an hour, he made intelligent moves, he hustled his arse off, and if the Gunners as a unit weren’t so gassed and up against it, he likely would have made a much bigger impact.

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As it stands, there is a pretty cushy position there for the taking with Nketiah. When Emery inevitably wises up and realizes that he needs to start Aubameyang and Lacazette together, the biggest benefactor, aside from those two, will be the third striker, who will always be called upon when one or the other doesn’t work out, or when an extra push is needed late in games.

Nketiah can be that third striker, but he has to earn his way to it. That said, in order to earn his way to it, he has to be given the chance to earn his way to it, and 30 minute substitute appearances, rather than three minute cameos, are a great way to start asserting himself.

If these opportunities keep coming, which they should, then Nketiah’s return on investment will be clear. We’ll have the striker situation fixed by year end without any money spent. That’s a win for everyone.

And all he has to do is keep looking like he belongs and, maybe, chip in a few goals in the process. Again though – that’s the part we know he does well. Let’s see the rest of it. Which we are.