Arsenal: So is there an Eddie Nketiah replacement?

Arsenal are reportedly looking to loan out Eddie Nketiah next season. Does that mean there is a replacement on the way, and if so, who is it?

Squad depth is vitally important. Over a long and arduous season in which suspensions, injuries and fatigue are inevitable, having strength in numbers and variety at every single position in the squad is essential. Even if the starting options are elite, alternatives are still required.

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For Arsenal, it would be easy to look at their starting pair of centre-forwards and say that they do not need a third. Alexandre Lacazette was named the Player of the Season. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the club’s top goalscorer and the joint golden boot winner in the Premier League with 22 goals. They are the stars of the squad, unquestionably. But that does not mean a third is not needed.

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At present, that third centre-forward is 20-year-old Eddie Nketiah. After Danny Welbeck’s contract expired earlier this summer without a new one offered, the London Hale product graduated into the incumbent reserve. It seems like a promotion, and in it is regarding his standing in the squad, but it still does not mean that Nketiah will be handed the playing opportunities that a young player’s development requires.

As a result, Unai Emery is considering loaning out Nketiah for the year in the hope of finding a landing spot where he can compete for and win a starting job for the season. Bristol City of the Championship are the reported frontrunners. The loan makes sense, should the right landing spot be chosen such that Nketiah can play 30 or 40 senior matches this season. But it does leave Arsenal lurching at the striker position a little.

Aubameyang and Lacazette are fabulous to have, and should Emery shift to a lone-centre-forward system as is expected, one can back up the other, rotating between the two throughout the year, but that is still a dicy situation, asking for trouble.

As was the case with the centre-half position last summer, when Emery loaned out Calum Chambers and entered the year with only three fit options, Arsenal were left lacking come the middle of the year, forced to rush Laurent Koscielny back from injury after Dinos Mavropanos failed to prove his fitness and Rob Holding tore his ACL.

You never like to see players suffer injuries, but as a football club, it would be irresponsible to not prepare for them and put plans in place to deal with them. And if there is a team that knows how damaging injuries can be to a season if you do not have suitable replacements in place, it is Arsenal.

So is there an Nketiah replacement? There certainly is not one in the squad at this point. No other individual can play at the centre-forward, and that could be asking for trouble.