Arsenal Vs Burnley: Eddie Nketiah, this is your shot

Arsenal travel to Burnley on Sunday afternoon to close out their Premier League season. Eddie Nketiah could see some minutes late on. It is his final shot to earn more playing time ahead of next year.

Eddie Nketiah is 19 years of age. He will turn 20 by the end of this month. At that same age, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, and many others were already regular starters for their respective teams. Kylian Mbappe was winning a World Cup.

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This is not to compare Nketiah to some of the most talented young players of a generation, but rather it is to serve as an example that if he is to one day force his way into the Arsenal team as a key player, he really should be playing more regularly than he currently is.

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Admittedly, he is fighting arguably the best centre-forward pair in world football for playing time, but top-level sport is competitive. If you are to make it at the ruthless end, you have to beat out the best. That is what Nketiah must now do: forge out a role for himself in a team that has two excellent strikers.

Next season, Nketiah needs to be more than a young afterthought, only thrown on in matches when there are no other options. But for that to happen, he needs to prove that he is ready for the role. Danny Welbeck’s departure was announced this week, his injury getting the best of him, so there is a third-striker spot available to be grasped, if Nketiah can indeed grasp it.

He may have a chance to begin to prove his worth this weekend. Arsenal travel to Burnley to close out the Premier League season. With the top four now decided and a Europa League final on the horizon, Unai Emery may choose to rotate through his squad a little, not necessarily for fatigue purposes but more because of a fear of injury.

If he takes such a decision, Nketiah could be in line to start. And even if he does not feature from the beginning, expect him to make an early appearance off the bench, especially if a healthy lead has already been established. Either way, Nketiah will likely be getting more than the 10 minutes of scraps that he has had to feed on so far this season.

It may seem harsh to judge a player’s worth on one appearance, but opportunities are going to be limited. Nketiah will not have another appearance this season barring an injury travesty prior to the Europa League final. He must make it count and prove to Emery that there is no need to sign a third striker this summer, as I am sure some would have him do.

Nketiah is talented. But the time of prospective youth has come to its end. He must now take his role as a trusted, valuable senior player, and it all starts on Sunday.