Nottingham Forest are the latest club to be linked with Eddie Nketiah, with David Ornstein reporting this evening that Arsenal have turned down a bid in the region of £25m for the striker.
🚨 EXCL: Nottingham Forest working on deal to sign Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal. £25m (inc add-ons) opening bid rejected but talks continue – #NFFC top striker target. #AFC want ~£30/35m. #CPFC retain interest but no current club-to-club talks @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/JriPR7BPV0
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 19, 2024
Eddie had been linked with Marseille, only for the French side to sign Elye Wahi from Lens, before links to Bournemouth were scuppered when the south coast side agreed a deal for Porto’s Brazilian striker Evanilson.
It’s worth considering that a £25m offer including add-ons may have been structured in a less than favourable way, but further talks are ongoing and fingers crossed for all concerned that an agreement is found.
Nketiah needs to play regularly, and his chances of doing that at Arsenal are slim, while his departure may make room for another attacking addition before the transfer window closes on August 30th.
Let’s see how this one goes.
Meanwhile, Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay has explained their decision to leave Mikel Merino out of the squad for their 2-1 defeat to Raya Vallecano yesterday.
He said, “We will talk to Arsenal and defend the interests of Real Sociedad. When we consider that the offer is good, we will say yes”.
“We know what Merino’s wishes are, so we decided not to call him up.”
This can’t be true — people said Eddie wasn’t worth the price tag put on him by Arsenal, that no PL teams were interested in him at all. The Ornbomb must a dud. Must be….
It did seem a bit mad to me that Arsenal could be turning down the only tangible interest in Eddie when they sacked off Marseilles.
I thought at the time that another club or two must be strongly sniffing but it was a bit soon for them to make a move.
Seems like a good fit. Don’t play hardball too much Edu. Anything from £25-30m is a good price for Nketiah.
Don’t mean to sound harsh on Eddie. But this is great news!
I find myself wanting Eddie to stay. In case of injuries to Havertz and Jesus for three weeks (which is part of football), what do we do? Obi Martin has left already, lol. Even frugal Wenger had Henry, Kanu, Wiltord and Aliadière at the same.
Trossard is a fantastic option too. We went on an amazing run with him at 9 last season.
I really, really think it’s time we moved on from Eddie. And the money could come in such use this window.
Yep, a wide player would be ideal, even on loan. I like the idea of Coman coming on loan.
For the same reason*, I’d rather us sign a forward (centre, wide, whatever) that the manager is willing to play. Nothing against Eddie, but there were times that we could’ve used some rotation and the manager didn’t trust him. Don’t think we have to sell him to bring someone in, but he’s not a “genuine” option on the evidence of the past two seasons.
*Great point on the options available to Wenger, often forgotten in this weird squad size discussion. Those guys also overlapped with Anelka, Suker, Bentley, Adebayor, RvP and others.
Trossard and Martinelli?
Wenger played a 442, so yes, we had more strikers in the squad at the same time. Like most teams, we only play with one striker. I can’t think of any teams that have more than two strikers in their squad. City only really have one now that they’ve sold alverez, and went for a season without any. Liverpool have Nunez and jota; United have hojlund and zirkzee; spuds have solanke and Richarlson; despite having a million players Chelsea only have Jackson and nkunku; villa have Watkins and dhuran. I can think go on and name the rest of the… Read more »
It’s not so much a question of numbers but that of solutions, relationships and team dynamics. How would you use Eddie if he stayed? Who in the team complements his style? What kinds of matches would you use him? Eddie has two main problems at Arsenal. One is that he has a manager whose style centers on controlling the play and that demands duel winning (check) and ball retention (not so much). The second is that the club is committed to Martinelli and Havertz, both of whom are primarily off ball players and don’t pair well with Eddie, who is… Read more »
There was a time Arsenal had a glut of attackers in it’s stable. I remember a match against man united when arsenal finished the game with Henry, Van Persie, Adebayor, and Baptista
This is aged well ol’ mate!
Fingers crossed for us and Eddie. We do need another striker option though as well as Kai and Jesus..
If Eddie pays for Merino and ESR pays for Calafiori, then that’s absolutely fantastic business.
Both those players only played a handful of games for us last season and we’ve replaced them with potential regulars.
And surely that means we have surplus cash to pull the trigger on a WF.
This is turning into a very strong window.
I see Brighton have spunked £40m on Rutter from Leeds today – I wonder if that means they will be open to offers for Evan Ferguson? I’d be more than happy with him (wouldn’t say no to joao pedro from Brighton either, or Mitoma)
Yeah, Joao Pedro the most likely of the three, though I still don’t see him being a priority signing, probably some ways down the list. Does tick some boxes: versatility, ball striking, instincts, good shielding and ball protection, works hard off ball. Looks like an MA player, just hasn’t shown enough elite quality to justify a big outlay. EF remains a project, a couple of years away, but would already cost big boy money, doesn’t improve us over what we have in Havertz right now. I like Mitoma a lot but not sure MA feels the same. He likes more… Read more »
What about Sterling from Chel$ea? He’s burnt his bridges there and would be available for a cut price. He wouldn’t be a regular starter but would be an excellent backup across the forward line.
Jesus >>> Sterling
I feel like Eddie deserves a better team than Forest who might not be in the prem next season. I wish for him he goes somewhere nicer.
Actually, I think it’s a good fit. They will need to play to his strengths and if it goes well he’ll be the star who keeps them up.
I hope he walks straight up to Chris Wood and slaps him for that abysmal display against City.
Nothing wrong with Nottingham Forest, arsenal got their club colours from the tricky trees!! I for one would like to see him at forest and helping them do more than avoid relegation!!!
Eddie is a poacher, he’s really good at scoring goals in a team that suits his virtues. Arsenal is sadly not that team, but he has a long term contract and would probably get the occasional chances if we keep him. The point is that we’ve NOT been selling our players well in recent years and that needs to stop. Emile went for okay money even though his talent probably means he’s worth more, but his injury record didn’t help. I like that we’re sticking to our valuation about these players.
It was genius to give a contract and if we get 27 million it will be an absolute touch for us.
Can we swap for Morgan Gibbs white?
Looks like Merino is joining, why on earth would we want Morgan Gibbs?
Not a bad shout but we have Ethan
Gibbs-White is Shite
They really are robbing the rich to give to themselves (the poor). Does their sporting director wear tights?
Good bye Eddie
Welcome Merino
Let’s see if this actually happens first…🤞
Sociedad president must be Jokin if he thinks we’ll pay crazy money for Merino.
Just slap on 1m for each England appearance up to 7 appearances.
Edu saves face, the money will be distributed minimum over two years.
Done.