Nketiah wants to repay Arsenal’s faith next season

Eddie Nketiah intends to continue to repay the faith of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta next season and help the team achieve something special.

The Gunners forward was coming to the end of his current deal, but last week ended speculation about the future by signing a new long-term contract.

The 23-year-old has been with Arsenal since the age of 14, and was recalled early from a loan spell at Leeds during the 2019-2020 campaign.

After a struggle for some regular game time last season, Nketiah – linked with the likes of London rivals Crystal Palace and West Ham – started the final eight Premier League games.

With Alexandre Lacazette having also followed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of the Emirates Stadium, Nketiah is expected to play a central role in Arteta’s side as they look to build on a campaign which saw them just miss out on a return to Champions League football.

“I am just happy to finally get over the line, it has been a while pending. I am happy to be here and looking forward to the new season,” Nketiah said of his new long-term deal.

“I have been at Arsenal most of my career, so you just have to consider the next steps and what they looked like.

“When the time was right and, I spoke to the manager, it was kind of an easy decision at the end I knew where my heart was all along.

“You want to have the backing of the manager and the players to go out there and do it again.

“It was an important run for us as well so to have that trust during that time and to also kind of repay him back with good performances and goals was amazing.”

Nketiah added in an interview on Arsenal Player: “(My ambitions) are to play as many games as possible, contribute as much as possible for the team and just develop, keep improving and help the team achieve their goals,

“That’s the target – to do well and achieve something special together.”

Arsenal have further bolstered their squad with the arrival of talented midfielder Fabio Vieira from Porto, and continued to be linked with a move for both Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus as well as Leeds forward Raphinha.

The Gunners confirmed on Thursday that defender Jordi Osei-Tutu had made a permanent move to Bundesliga side Bochum, where he previously spent some time during the 2019–2020 campaign.

The 23-year-old right-back had a loan spell last season at Rotherham after joining the Millers during January.

Young Arsenal striker Mika Biereth, 19, has joined Dutch Eredivisie side Waalwijk on a season-long loan.