The young striker recently broke Alan Shearer’s goalscoring record at England Under-21 level, but has just 145 minutes of Premier League action under his belt so far this term.
It’s been largely frustrating season for Eddie Nketiah at Arsenal so far.
The young striker, who spent six months at Leeds last season, recently broke Alan Shearer’s England Under-21s goal record.
But the 21-year-old has seen regular game time difficult to come by at the Emirates under Mikel Arteta this term.
At times in the second half of last season Nketiah got the nod to lead attacks ahead of Alexandre Lacazette. However, he has just 145 minutes of Premier League football under his belt this term thus far.
That has seen former Gunners striker Kevin Campbell call on Nketiah to push for a potential temporary exit in January, in a bid to get more games under his belt and further his development.
Campbell, who played over 200 times for the Gunners, told Football Insider: “Nketiah has a knack for goals but I think he needs to go out on loan for another season, playing back-to-back games to get that confidence in his own body.
“Coming off the bench and playing sparingly is okay but there is nothing better than getting a run of starts to understand that you can do it at the top level.
“You have got to go through the tough parts. You need to get kicked, feel the pain and the soreness. That is what he needs to do.”
However, Campbell’s comments are in stark contrast to another ex-Gunner striker, the club’s second all-time top scorer Ian Wright.
Speaking on his Wrighty’s House Podcast ahead of the weekend draw with Leeds – when neither Nketiah or Lacazette started – Wright called on the homegrown prospect to dig in and force his way past the Frenchman in the pecking order.
“We talked about Laca and people are talking about Laca’s got to be taken out. Maybe just for himself, just to have a rest,” said Wright.
“Eddie now should be looking at what Laca does, why Laca’s in the team, why Laca’s being picked over him even though he’s not scoring. And he’s got to start learning about the progression of himself.
Arsenal face Wolves on Saturday in the Premier League, having first encountered Molde in the Europa League on Thursday.
mirror.co.uk
