Eddie Nketiah has offered Mikel Arteta a chance to ease frustrations at Arsenal and proposed a dramatic change for the Premier League run-in.
The Gunners are in the midst of a desperate run of form which has seen them lose three games on the spin, scoring just once in the process. Arteta’s side head across the capital to face Chelsea on Wednesday evening, knowing they need three points to reignite their bid to finish in the top four.
Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge having scored just 45 goals this season, with only Wolves and Brighton in the top half who have managed fewer. The January sale of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has added further scrutiny to their goalscoring woes, particularly in the face of Alexandre Lacazette struggles.
Lacazette, like Nkeitah, is out of contract at the end of the season and has already admitted to speaking to other clubs about his options when the window opens. Those discussions would likely be met with a less sour response if the Frenchman was doing the business on the pitch.
However, since the turn of the year, he has just one Premier League goal, forcing the goalscoring burden onto the shoulders of players like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
Nketiah has been a man on the peripheries for much of this season, playing just 256 minutes in the Premier League, despite taking his opportunity in the EFL Cup, scoring five times in as many games.
He did play the entire 90 minutes against Southampton, but in an interview with The Beautiful Game Podcast recorded before the defeat to the Saints, the 22-year-old admitted he has been frustrated by his lack of minutes, a stance Arteta agrees with.
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“He is right to be upset. This is what we want from the players that haven’t had the minutes,” Arteta explained. “Especially Eddie, because if there is a player in the dressing room that deserves more chances, that is for sure Eddie.”
And ahead of what could be an era-defining stretch of seven Premier League games, Nketiah has proposed he would be more than happy to line up next to the veteran Lacazette in a formation which would resemble more like the 4-4-2 often adopted by Arsene Wenger.
"Yes, I really like Laca as a player," he said. "As a striker you can appreciate what he does when you play in the position and I enjoy playing with Laca. When we are down, for example, last game against Brighton or Palace, I've come on and we switch to kind of like a two upfront.
"It is good, I feel like for most of my career I've played as a one, but when you play in a two with someone like Laca who understands the game and you can combine and link up with, it does help.
“Also as a centre-forward, when you are playing against a back three or back two, when it's one it's easier for them to occupy, but when there's someone else there's more space, you can drift out of the game and go into different areas. I actually enjoy playing in a two and I can play with him obviously. When I have done, it's been OK."
Whether Arteta is willing to take the plunge against a team like Chelsea remains to be seen, but Nketiah’s offer at least gives the Spaniard something to think about - and a potential solution to Arsenal’s biggest issue.
