Arsenal: Eddie Nketiah has changed the striker conversation

Arsenal’s conversation at striker is ongoing, but for Eddie Nketiah’s part in the conversation, he has changed the topic of dialogue completely.

Arsenal‘s striker situation since the restart has been a constant conversation of what’s best for the longterm. The goal has been to prove that Eddie Nketiah is good enough to be a viable striker option before the transfer window, so we can know what we have to buy, if anything.

The other, side goal, is to see if Alexandre Lacazette is more of the same. Is he someone worth keeping around? Is he good enough to be the star striker? Because we are paying him to be and he hasn’t been that this season.

So that’s what this has been about. Deciding who we have and what we need for the longterm. Overall, though, the biggest question that needed answer is if Nketiah could be trusted as a striker option. Not necessarily the main man, but at the very least a rotation striker.

He has proved that. Wholly and conclusively. When he isn’t scoring goals, he’s playing so well. He’s moving off the ball, he’s finding space, he’s pushing the issue.

With the right service, which he really hasn’t had lately, Nketiah will be thumping home the goals. I have no doubts about that.

As such, we don’t need to talk much about the longterm anymore. The longterm is coming to fruition in front of our eyes. I think we can all agree that Nketiah has a place in the longterm and, like it or not, Lacazette doesn’t. No matter what he does for the rest of the year, I don’t see that changing.

What we need to talk about now is who is best in the short-term. Because that’s where Lacazette is going to find most of his value still and most of his impact. And that’s really the only point in the conversation that needs to be discussed. After the goal against Wolverhampton, it makes perfect sense that Lacazette could get the start against Leicester.

Simply put, Lacazette is much more likely to hit the heights that Nketiah hasn’t reached yet. He will reach them, no doubt about that. But in the short-term, Lacazette is more likely to reach them sooner.

This is all thanks to Eddie Nketiah that we’re even having this conversation. In a good way. He’s changed the focus with his growth and development.