Why Bristol City should pounce on Eddie Nketiah in January
According to the Mirror, Arsenal could recall academy hotshot Eddie Nketiah from his loan spell at Leeds United in January due to the youngster’s lack of regular involvement in the Championship.
Despite the fact that the 20-year-old would’ve provided ample cover and competition for the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, Nketiah opted for a temporary move to West Yorkshire in a bid to further his development with regular minutes.
With that in mind, however, the highly-rated England U21 striker has had little joy thus far, with Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa not ready to put his trust in him as a regular starter just yet.
Having been used as an impact player off the bench on seven occasions in the league, the starlet has been instrumental in Leeds’ victories over Brentford and Barnsley in the Championship but that apparently hasn’t been enough for him to usurp Patrick Bamford in the pecking order.
Nketiah has already hit the ground running at Elland Road with a tally of 4 goals in 8 appearances across all competitions.
However, Arsenal are not happy with the fact that he is yet to start a league game for the club and they might be forced to exercise the recall clause in the loan agreement if things do not change between now and January.
Now, as per the report, Bristol City, who had expressed an interest in taking Eddie Nketiah on loan for the ongoing season earlier in the summer, are ready to pounce in January if Arsenal recall the 20-year-old from his loan spell at Elland Road.
Robins manager Lee Johnson is still on the lookout for a striker after the long-term injury to Stoke City loanee Benik Afobe and Nketiah might enjoy more playtime in the second half of the campaign should a move to Ashton Gate materialize.
To put things into perspective, Bristol City should not hesitate to go all out in their pursuit of Eddie Nketiah in January if Arsenal terminate his loan spell at Leeds midway through the season.
The 20-year-old has already shown that he is more than capable of finding the net in the Championship and, with Bristol City establishing themselves as one of the playoff favourites early in the campaign, Nketiah’s arrival in January could add that extra bit of firepower to help the Robins in their surge for promotion.
Youngster Antoine Semenyo has been relied upon by Johnson to provide competition for Famara Diedhiou and Andreas Weimann in front of goal but Nketiah can make a real difference to the balance of the attacking cavalry with his pace and devastating eye for goal.
With Bristol City currently sitting 6th in the Championship standings, Afobe’s injury hasn’t really come back to bite them just yet but lack of quality depth in attack could prove to be a stumbling block in their pursuit of promotion later on in the season when the race for the playoffs go down to the wire.
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The Robins missed out on a playoff berth by the narrowest of margins in the previous campaign and they should do everything to ensure that they do not fall short once again this term.
To that end, Bristol City going back in the market for Eddie Nketiah in January would make perfect sense for a number of reasons and this move could apparently work out in the best interests of all parties involved.