Come rain or shine, Mikel Arteta's faith in Eddie Nketiah has remained steadfast. One of the first things the Spaniard did after being appointed as Arsenal manager in 2019 was to recall Nketiah from his loan spell at Leeds and throw him straight into the starting XI ahead of the established Alexandre Lacazette.
Since then time and again many have questioned Nketiah's ability, and for much of last season it appeared that he wasn't ever going to make it at the Emirates Stadium. Arteta though has remained confident in him and was rewarded again on Boxing Day as the Hale Ender stepped up with an impressive performance in the absence of Gabriel Jesus.
The undoubted highlight on the night for Nketiah was a superbly taken goal to secure the 3-1 victory. The 23-year-old has never let Arteta down when called upon in the past, and he feels as though this is why the Arsenal manager has continued to have such faith in him,
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"I think there's a way of doing it," he said when asked what he had done to convince his manager that he would be ready to step up. "That’s through training every day, performing when you come on and giving your best. The manager knows what kind of person I am in terms of wanting to play all the time so I don't particularly need to go knocking on his door every week. But he knows what type of player I am and he knows that whenever I am given the opportunity I will always give 100% to help the team."
Arteta was delighted for Nketiah after the game. "If he had any doubts, hopefully this can give him more confidence in what he’s doing," the Spaniard said in his post-match press conference. "I thought his performance was really, really good and on top of that he scored a great goal."
It seems he was not the only one. Nketiah's Arsenal teammates have taken a keen liking to him and their joyous celebrations after he scored were yet more proof of that. The Gunners squad began to join the crowd in chanting "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" and for Nketiah this was the best bit about his first Premier League goal of the season.
"It was really nice," he said of his goal. "Great ball from Martin and obviously a nice turn and finish. But I think I enjoyed the celebration more, just seeing how happy my team-mates were for me. They’ve seen how hard I work and their reaction was amazing. It shows the real togetherness of the team when everyone celebrates like that."
Despite his impressive record of 11 goals in his last 11 league starts, there remain plenty in north London who are unconvinced still by what Nketiah has to offer. Like it or loath it though, with Jesus out for potentially three months, the former England Under-21s international has a key role to play as Arsenal look to continue their title charge.
The Gunners are unlikely to sign an out and out No.9 despite having put in a bid for Mykhaylo Mudryk as they look to back the man they gave a five year contract extension to in the summer. For his part, Nketiah feels as though he ready and waiting to grasp the opportunity that's been handed to him, but wants to do it in his own way.
"We're all gutted that he’s injured because he’s a big part of the team," he said of Jesus. "But I’m not trying to replace him and I’m not trying to be him. I can’t do what he does and he can’t do what I do. We’re different players but at the end of the day we both want to help the team. Whether it’s me or him, we both support each other. I wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully I can continue to help the team."
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