Last 12 months, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry shared his earliest reminiscences of Arsenal striker Eddy Nketiah whereas talking with Amazon Prime and little recognized proven fact that the 23-year-old Ghanaian-born English footballer spent his days on the Chelsea Academy. coaching was began. , On Sunday night time, Nketiah scored a brace towards Manchester United within the English Premier League 3-2 win on the Emirates Stadium and Henry should have been reminded of his days with the Gunners as Nketiah wore the quantity 14 shirt. was a quantity made well-known by Henry throughout his time with the membership.
“He was at Chelsea in his early years. People don’t know this. Because Tammy Abraham was there and doing what he was doing, he left them to come to Arsenal,” Henry informed Amazon Prime final 12 months.
Born to Ghanaian dad and mom, a younger Nketiah grew up in South-East London along with his father displaying a eager curiosity in soccer and sending his son to soccer coaching within the neighbourhood. The teenager joined the Chelsea Football Academy earlier than being launched by the academy in 2013 earlier than being signed by Arsenal’s junior academy. “It wasn’t actually my selection as a result of I used to be at Chelsea from U10 to U14 and I used to be launched on the finish of U14, and it is a huge blow for me in soccer. It got here as a shock to me. I Declan (Rice) was the identical age as Mason (Mount). Obviously, as a child you are all taking part in soccer and going to highschool and in school you are generally known as the child who performs for Chelsea performs. It’s part of you and it is laborious to let go. I used to be a bit smaller bodily than everybody else however nonetheless I used to be doing effectively technically. I used to be good, I used to be scoring targets so it was a Came as an enormous shock,” Niketia informed The Beautiful Game podcast earlier.
Spending time on the Arsenal academy noticed him practice underneath Arsene Wenger and Henry, who had additionally served as junior academy coach. The teenager scored 48 targets in 63 growth video games for the membership’s U18 and U21 sides, earlier than making his debut underneath Wenger for the senior aspect within the Europa League towards BATE Borisov. “I do know he has character and he is not afraid. He smells mixture actions, he can provide and go and as soon as a participant has an opportunity in his sport. People who can perceive that If they offer the ball someplace they usually can get it again and know the place to get it again, the standard of the reception is an important high quality. I might say the standard of the reception, they’ve that Wenger informed the Guardian when speaking about Nketiah.
The teenager scored his first objective for the senior crew in an EFL Cup match towards Norwich City, taking his profession complete to 66 targets in 157 membership appearances for Arsenal. Incidentally, Nketiah’s first reminiscence of watching an Arsenal sport in a stadium was of the crew taking part in towards Norwich. “The first sport I actually keep in mind was that sport towards Norwich when Jack Wilshere scored that pretty objective. Great crew transfer, I’ll at all times keep in mind that. I used to be within the crowd that day and that sport stayed with me. What a objective he was and what a participant he was too. It is sweet to see him coaching with us now.
Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal celebrates scoring his third objective. (Reuters/Peter Siborra)
In 2020, Nketiah broke the all-time goal-scoring document for the England U-21 aspect with a complete of 14 targets and in addition captained the England U-21 crew on the 2021 European U-21 Championships. Last 12 months, there have been additionally newspaper experiences concerning the Ghanian Football Federation approaching Nketiah to play for the African nation, however talks with Nketiah nonetheless inconclusive over his worldwide future. “Both my dad and mom are Ghanaian [so] after all it is a chance [playing for Ghana. I’m open to both, that is playing for Ghana and obviously England as well. Being from Ghana, you would be happy that they qualified for the World Cup.” Nketiah had told The Beautiful Game podcast.
In the absence of Brazilian Gabriel Jesus, Nketiah has taken on the role of the main striker for the team and has scored nine goals for Arsenal this season with manager Mikel Arteta showing his faith in the striker. Nketiah, who was handed a new contract for the club last year, has also spoken about how looks towards Henry for inspiration.
“He’s had a massive input. Obviously, he was my idol growing up and I had the opportunity to work with him for a full year, which was amazing, one of my best years in the academy. It’s great to have him there at the games supporting us. He’s had a big impact. He was my favourite player growing up,” Nketiah had told Sky Sports earlier.
As for comparisons with Jesus, who has scored five goals for the club this season in 19 matches before being sidelined due to an injury, Nketiah was clear about his own place in the team. “I’m not here to replace him (Jesus), I want to be my own player, but we all wish him well.” Nketiah told The Athletic last month.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
