Arsenal make final Eddie Nketiah transfer decision with Newcastle

Arsenal join the rest of the Premier League in preparing for the ever invigorating transfer deadline day, and what they do here could significantly impact the remainder of their season.

A hectic window has already seen plenty of movement in north London, albeit it almost solely regarding departures. Matt Turner will join he club in the summer, but other than that it’s slim pickings.

Letting Calum Chambers depart to Aston Villa brought the number of senior departures up to five and, as the clocks ticks down towards Monday’s deadline, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is expected to become number six when he joins Barcelona on loan.

One of the big questions is whether Eddie Nketiah will be joining him out of the door. It appears he won’t be.

Arsenal make final Eddie Nketiah transfer decision with Newcastle as Mikel Arteta’s side reject approaches and will not sign a new striker

Numerous reports had stated that Newcastle were growing confident of striking a deal with Arsenal to sign the 22-year-old this month, with Eddie Howe keen on bringing in a young striker to complement his current options.

Deemed a ‘very possible’ deal that the Magpies were ‘strongly’ working on, it appears as if a decision has been made to pull the plug.

As per Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal have no intention of finding a solution for the centre-forward this month despite his contract expiring in the summer, and all of Newcastle’s approaches have been turned down.

Nketiah will now see out the remainder of his contract and then leave as a free agent in the summer.

What does this mean? There may be some hope that Nketiah will act as third choice striker for the remaining 17 Premier League matches, but truth be told it looks like he will be second in command behind Alexandre Lacazette. Indeed, hopes of a late move for a new No. 9 this month might need to be shelved.

It looks like the plan had been laid out to see the campaign through with those two as the strikers. Arsenal tried desperately to sign Dusan Vlahovic to no avail, and with the other options they had either unavailable or valued beyond their worth, the club will make do with what they have.

Some goals from Nketiah wouldn’t go amiss: like a pig in muck when he’s playing lower leauge opposition at home, he has not delivered in high pressure situations in the Premier League. He and Lacazette have three goals combined in the Premier League.

That is now Arsenal’s strikeforce.