Eddie Nketiah’s short-term future at Arsenal is in doubt with confidence growing at Bristol City that they will secure the youngster on loan.
Nketiah enjoyed an impressive pre-season with Unai Emery’s first-team, scoring in wins over Bayern Munich and Fiorentina in the USA, and Arsenal are keen to ensure that the 20-year-old gains regular game time next season.
That may not happen in Emery’s squad, where Nicolas Pepe has joined Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in a fearsome frontline that could limit Nketiah’s opportunities.
Arsenal view Nketiah as a key part of their long-term plans but there is an acknowledgement at the club that the young striker risks atrophying if he does not feature on a regular basis at this crucial stage in his development.
Meanwhile a string of Championship clubs are eager to give the England Under-21 international consistent game time, with Bristol City leading the way for the striker. Swansea, Charlton Athletic and Cardiff City have also been linked with Nketiah.
City’s impressive record developing youngsters for other top Premier League clubs - most notably Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham - stands them in good stead with Arsenal, as does manager Lee Johnson's attractive style of football.
Speaking on the US tour earlier in pre-season Emery insisted that he planned to keep Nketiah in his first-team plans but the addition of Pepe is believed to have prompted the Arsenal hierarchy to reconsider their options for the academy product, who played just 62 minutes of Premier League football last season and did not add to the brace he scored against Norwich City in the EFL Cup on October 24 2017 until the final day of the campaign in a win at Burnley.
Emery had blocked a loan move to Augsburg midway through the season, a decision which the young striker told football.london earlier this summer was “disappointing”, but did not give Nketiah significant game time in the remainder of the campaign.
After a summer in which Arsenal have made further additions to their attack there is no guarantee that that situation will change this summer.
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Though club record signing Pepe is not a natural striker the 24-year-old also spent a large part of the 2017/18 season leading the line for Lille.
Emery can also call on Aubameyang and Lacazette whilst 18-year-old striker Tyreece John-Jules is highly thought of and has signed a new contract that ensured the youngster was not lured away by the likes of Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.
