Arsenal have reportedly turned down an approach from Crystal Palace to sign out-of-favour striker Eddie Nketiah, who is currently not for sale.
According to The Daily Mail, Crystal Palace have made an initial enquiry about signing Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal in the January transfer window, but the Gunners have swiftly rejected the approach.
Despite his good moments, Nketiah hasn’t quite produced the consistent levels to nail down a first-team place throughout his Arsenal career. The 24-year-old started the season strongly, enjoying a decent run in the first team as Gabriel Jesus was sidelined, but has lost his starting spot since the return to fitness of the Brazilian ace.
He has only started one Premier League game for Arsenal since October and has more often than not played an impact substitute role. However, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta remains a huge admirer of his skillset and sees him as an integral figure in the squad, which led the Gunners to rule out any potential sale in early January at the very least.
As much as Arteta may desire a new striker at Arsenal, Roy Hodgson has been bereft of a goal-scorer at Palace for far too long. Odsonne Edouard is finally coming good, but he is never likely to score 15 goals or more in one season. The Eagles are the third-lowest-scoring side in the division, behind Burnley and Sheffield United.
The Eagles’ recruitment department is known to be a big admirer of Nketiah, a player who could leave North London in the near future. While Nketiah could solve their woes in front of the net, Palace have been told by the Gunners’ that the striker is not available this January.
Things could change if Arsenal are able to sign a centre-forward themselves to replace him, which is not out of the question, with links to the likes of Ivan Toney and Dominic Solanke.
However, the north Londoners could be forced into selling their other fringe stars before they can sign new stars in order to abide by Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. Mikel Arteta’s side spent over £200 million in the summer and had to sign goalkeeper David Raya on a season-long loan deal rather than a permanent deal in order to remain intact with FFP.
Crystal Palace will realign their radar elsewhere if they feel Nketiah is unavailable as they look to improve their striking options.
