For Eddie Nketiah, it is a story of Arsenal royalty and Chelsea rejects. A first senior call-up for the record scorer in the history of the England Under-21s capped a fine start to the season and came after a reunion. Nketiah and Declan Rice were players who thought their dreams had died, south Londoners who were released by Chelsea as teenagers. Now they could be teammates for club and country: one is currently Arsenal’s first-choice forward, the other their £105m record signing.
“It is funny how life works sometimes,” Nketiah reflected. “We have done the full 360 to be back together. I was there from the ages of nine and it came as a shock to me because I was doing well at the time. Obviously Declan was of that age group as well and had a similar experience.” Rice was the first to taste disappointment; two years later, Nketiah was deemed too small. Each could seem a costly mistake; then it was a crushing blow to them.
