Eddie Nketiah has undoubtedly surpassed most of the expectations placed on his shoulders after the Arsenal striker was brought into the starting XI following an injury to Gabriel Jesus. Since the Premier League resumed after the World Cup, the 23-year-old has scored four goals in six games and has proven he can fill the shoes of Jesus, despite the latter's tantalising link-up play.
After an impressive showing towards the end of last season which placed his future in doubt, Nketiah signed a new five-year contract at Emirates Stadium in June before Arsenal acquired Jesus from Manchester City later that summer.
Jesus, as expected, was the number one option in attack ahead of Nketiah until he suffered a serious knee injury which required surgery at the World Cup. A timeline of 2-3 months was set for his recovery which meant Nketiah was once again the man tasked to fill in.
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The general consensus was that Nketiah would struggle, but Arteta showed no sign of that concern ahead of his first Premier League start of the season against West Ham.
"We have more faith in Eddie every single day," Arteta said in December 2022. "We see every day what he brings to the team, what he is as a human being and the way he is developing as a player. We got a great response last year when we needed him and he did really well for the team.
"He is ready. That is why he signed his contract. He is a key player in our squad and he is going to have chances to play."
Since that claim, Nketiah has scored important goals against West Ham and Brighton before a breath-taking performance and brace in the dramatic late win over Manchester United saw many change their opinions on him.
Unlike many of his fellow pundits, Gary Neville never openly admitted Nketiah wouldn't be able to fill in adequately for Jesus, but the former Premier League defender has admitted he has been surprised by the Hale End grad.
Neville told The Overlap : "I’m going to go [for] Nketiah. I thought when Jesus got injured, I thought that could be a problem. I think he’s played really well for Arsenal."
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