Arsenal: 4 solutions to Eddie Nketiah striker problem

What are Arsenal going to do? These cup matches are always excellent opportunities to hand minutes to those on the fringes, yet they also throw up a number of questions yet to be answered.

It was another enjoyable evening for Arsenal, making it three on the spin. The 5-1 win over Sunderland followed two solid Premier League victories over West Ham and Leeds to extend the smiles heading into Christmas.

While the table is affected by the postponed matches elsewhere, Arsenal will sit in the top four on Christmas Day for the first time since 2016 and also have a Carabao Cup semi-final to look forward to, one that may be played over a single leg.

Seeing Charlie Patino mark his debut with a goal was the icing on a festive cake, while Nicolas Pepe also showed some of his finer qualities with two assists and a goal.

Arsenal: 4 solutions to Eddie Nketiah striker problem as Mikel Arteta faces decisions in the January transfer window

It is, however, all about Eddie Nketiah.

Strikers are the main talking point around the club at the moment with the ostracised Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still not involved with the first team after being stripped of the captaincy. With all the other strikers there are points of discussion, too.

Alexandre Lacazette is leaving at the end of the season, Folarin Balogun is departing on loan in January and Nketiah, it would appear, is set to follow in the footsteps of the Frenchman.

Well, he might, or he might not.

Options galore are on the table over the winter window as Nketiah’s further goalscoring exploits cough up various scenarios on how Arsenal should tackle this growing problem they’re faced with. What can they do? What should they do?

There are four possible solutions to this conundrum. Some more likely, and more favourable, than others.

1. Sell or Loan Aubameyang & Keep Eddie Nketiah

The first reaction to a striker scoring a hat-trick is that he’s more worthy of being involved in this team than a certain former captain.

With Aubameyang not involved in the group and not due to link up with the squad until after the Africa Cup of Nations, the opportunities for Nketiah to be even more involved in the Premier League side are there. Pepe is also set to leave and Arteta’s preference for Nketiah out wide in the league makes him a certainty for involvement.

Rumours are already swirling around Aubameyang leaving in January, with some of Europe’s big-hitters eyeing his signing either on loan or permanently. In either case, moving him on will be a grueling task due to his hefty salary.

If if can be done, though, then Arsenal have another low-touch striker to call upon in Nketiah, a player who offers a different profile to current first choice centre-forward Lacazette.

Dangerous in the 18-yard box and lethal in the six-yard box, if Aubameyang can be moved on in January there will be three options to lead the line in Lacazette, Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli that Arteta may deem sufficient to see the season out.

It will certainly be on his mind.

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2. Sell Nketiah & Reintegrate Aubameyang

With his three-goal haul against Sunderland, Nketiah is now averaging a goal every 60 minutes this season, and has scored in each of the last three matches he has started. They were all Carabao Cup games, granted, but they’re still instances where the ball hits the back of the net.

Add in that he’s the record scorer for England’s Under-21 side and still only 22 years old, it would come as some shock if there weren’t a fair few clubs snooping around in January eyeing a cut-price deal for him.

There are always clubs in mid-season desperate for a striker: Brighton and Southampton have netted 14 and 16 goals respectively, while eighth place Wolves have just 13 in their 18 Premier League matches this term. Even clubs abroad will see this is a serious opportunity to snatch a bargain, as Nketiah will surely want out as soon as he can.

His post-match interview felt a lot like his mind was made up and he wasn’t going to change it.

As for the second part of this potential solution, reintegrating Aubameyang would be the best Arsenal could hope for…..if it worked.

It grows increasingly difficult to envisage an Arsenal team with him back in it, yet he remains the best striker at the club when he’s firing. The question is whether he will ever be ‘firing’ again. Furthermore, from a financial standpoint if the club can’t move him on then they have to find use for him and his £350k-per-week wages.

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3. Sell/Loan Nketiah and Aubameyang – Sign a New Striker

The radical option!

This is also the more fantastical of all potential solutions, so naturally it’s also the main preference of supporters. If achievable, nobody would say no.

As mentioned, there is a market for Nketiah in January. His goalscoring exploits on every rare opportunity he gets, regardless of opposition, make him an enticing proposition and as measly as the offers will be, they’re better than hedging all bets on the tribunal in the summer.

Where the real money will be made is on shifting Aubameyang.

It’s dreamland stuff to move two strikers on in the same window and bring in another. The difficulty of moving Aubameyang on in any capacity is an almighty operation on its own, while then going out and finding the massive next development stage of this team mid-season is perhaps even more challenging.

This is a signing Arsenal have to get right. Whoever is brought in at No. 9 is going to be a marquee addition that can elevate this team to the next level. Having spent more than any other side in Europe last season and with someone like Aubameyang’s wages off the bill, clubs won’t let their players leave cheap.

Indeed, they may not want to sell at all.

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4. Convince Eddie Nketiah to Sign a New Contract

Arteta has never shied away from his love for Nketiah. Public pleas for him to stay are probably matched by the daily delivery of cheese baskets and 80’s love ballad compilation albums.

Considering how desperate he is to keep him and how smitten he is with his ability, the fact that Nketiah is just limited to Carabao Cup matches and the occasional stint out on the left wing doesn’t justify the praise.

If you truly believe he is this talented, then why leave him out of matchday squads for the vast majority of the campaign?

It sounded for all the world like Nketiah had made his mind up when speaking in his post-match interview, with his quest for more minutes set to take him places outside of north London. But, what if Arteta were successful in keeping him?

The final possible solution to this issue is the one Arteta craves most. If Nketiah starts either on Boxing Day against Norwich, or against Wolves, and then continues earning playing time in January while Aubameyang is away, maybe then he’ll finally heed his manager’s call.

As helpful as having a goalscoring Nketiah around the place can be, he hasn’t shown enough in big games to convince that he can transform the outlook of the team. For lack of a better explanation, Arsenal can do better.

However, Arteta seems to think differently. Maybe he Santa will give him the present he wants.