Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has backed striker Eddie Nketiah, claiming he is "ready" to take the place of Gabriel Jesus in the team for the coming months. It comes as the Brazilian forward is set for months on the sidelines through an injury at the World Cup, which is a huge blow for the Gunners.
Jesus has been a key player since joining from Manchester City in the summer, offering quality in every phase of play compared to previous strikers. It comes as little coincidence that Arsenal find themselves top of the table at Christmas and five points clear with his ability, but he will now be a huge miss.
Mikel Arteta is now tasked with finding a solution for his absence and has hinted at such ahead of his side's clash with West Ham on their league return. He told reporters ahead of the game: "We look at the squad and see what options we have our with the players we have available. There are things we can try, we have the need to do so. I feel my squad is really good, and unfortunately we’ve had injuries, but we will see what we can do to be stronger."
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Nketiah has been touted as an option for the upcoming run of fixtures before the opening of the January transfer window, despite having big shoes to fill. The Hale End academy graduate signed a new long-term contract earlier this season, having hit a run of form at the back end of last season.
The youngster hasn't quite had a run of games since then though, often playing in the Carabao Cup and the Europa League so far. While he hasn't had the same exposure to the Premier League so far, club captain Odegaard has backed him ahead of the game, telling the official Arsenal website: "I know Eddie is more than ready to step in.
"I think he will do that in a great way. He showed it towards the end of last season as well, when he started playing more regularly up front and he did really well. I have to tell you in training Eddie’s looking really sharp, he’s always there for us and I’m sure he’s ready to step in, to help the team and keep us going in a good way, so I’m not too worried about that."
It's a huge show of faith in the youngster ahead of a start in the Premier League, with plenty of pressure on him to provide what Jesus can in his absence.
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