‘Extraordinary’ 23-year-old could be about to get his big chance at Arsenal after World Cup – opinion

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Arsenal have been rocked with the news that Gabriel Jesus could miss three months of action. Now, it could be time to finally unleash Eddie Nketiah and give him a proper chance to showcase his quality in the first team.

It was a hammer blow for the Gunners regarding Jesus. The striker picked up the injury at the World Cup and now, he’s undergone surgery to repair a damaged knee and could miss three months.

Arsenal are currently top of the Premier League. They enjoyed a brilliant first half of 2022/23 and Mikel Arteta’s men have a five-point advantage over reigning champions Manchester City.

Losing their star striker is going to make life difficult. The January transfer window is always a tricky market to sign players in and it’s unclear whether or not the club will enter the race to sign a new striker.

That could lead to a promotion from within. Nketiah has stayed loyal to Arsenal when it would perhaps have been easier for him to head out on loan or even cut his ties with the Gunners on a permanent basis.

The all-time leading goalscorer for the England under-21s is still at the Emirates Stadium. During the current campaign, he’s scored three times but has failed to start a single game in the Premier League.

Now, Arteta has the perfect chance to boost his confidence. He could hand him a run of games to prove himself and with lots of creativity behind him, he could fill the void left by Jesus nicely.

The head coach is a huge fan of Nketiah. In 2020 he called the striker ‘extraordinary’ and that should put the striker in good stead.

Arsenal rocked by Jesus news and Nketiah deserves chance

It’s been a long time coming but the Arsenal academy graduate now deserves his opportunity. The injury to Jesus has given Arteta the perfect chance and he doesn’t really have much to lose.

Arsenal face West Ham. Brighton and Newcastle over the Christmas period. As a result, they have a perfect opportunity to play the striker in games that really Arsenal will be fancied to win.

Nketiah knows where the net is. He’s risen through the ranks scoring bags of goals and he simply needs a regular run of games to prove that he can do it on a frequent basis in the Premier League.

Arteta appears to have some faith in Nketiah. Now, with Jesus facing a long spell on the sidelines; he needs to give the youngster the chance that he’s waited so patiently for over the years.