Proving people wrong is something Eddie Nketiah is used to by now. When Gabriel Jesus went down injured in Brazil's World Cup clash with Cameroon, many questioned whether the Hale Ender would be able to lead the line and keep Arsenal's title hopes alive. With five goal contributions in nine starts he more than answered them before an injury of his own curtailed his run in the side.
Silencing doubters is a habit the 24-year-old has had to do from nearly the very beginning of his career. At just 14-years-of-age he was released from Chelsea's academy. It was only a brief setback in his fledgling career, but the disappointment Nketiah felt is something that he admits was still tough to take.
"As a 13/14-year-old boy, especially when you’re used to doing something… You go to Chelsea every other day, you’re known as the boy who plays for Chelsea," he says. "It’s part of your identity.
"Accepting that being gone is hard to take. Luckily for me I have a great family around me who have always supported me, and I think what was really good for me was that the gap was not too long between being released and having an opportunity to go to Arsenal.
"It was probably four or five days, so it allowed me not to stay too down for too long and be able to refocus and know there’s a another challenge which can be even more beautiful. That’s the way I looked at it. I had to have a lot of maturity I did have my down days.
"That’s your dream, to get scouted, you get accepted, grow part of that academy, you want to go all the way. But sometimes this is life. I am a very religious person, I believe in God. I know everything happens for a reason."
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Released on that very same day was none other than Nketiah's future Arsenal teammate Declan Rice. It's taken a decade for the pair to link up again, but Nketiah believes the early disappointment the pair suffered has been key to getting them where they are now in their careers.
"It’s just about knowing this is the path that was chosen for you," he says. "Unfortunately it wasn’t down this path, but there’s also other routes to the top. There’s players that stayed there (Chelsea) and didn’t reach the levels that myself or Declan have now. This is just life, it isn’t always going to go your way. Having that experience really shaped me as a person and how I am able to deal with disappointments and prove again and again. It’s the mentality I have, it’s how to try to look at life."
This mentality will be key as he seeks to prove more people wrong across the coming season. With Gabriel Jesus firmly established as Arsenal's number nine, and Leandro Trossard having impressed in the role at points last season, Nketiah faces has yet another battle on his hands in order to get regular game time. It has led many to suggest that the 24-year-old has perhaps taken the easy route by choosing to stay at Arsenal instead of seeking more regular minutes elsewhere. Nketiah however, could not disagree more.
"No I don’t think I have accepted (being a back up) and I will never accept that," he says. "That’s not my mentality. That’s not why I signed here to sit and be second best. I want to be the best, I want to play and that’s the mentality I have. I realise I might not play every game and that’s the coach’s decision but it’s never going to be my mentality to accept not playing and I am going to always push in training to get opportunities to show why I think I should be playing and to give the manager a headache. Most players should have that mentality
"There’s ways to do it. There is no point sitting around and moaning every day. The manager’s door is always open so you can have conversations but you have to show it on the pitch, there is no point sitting outside the pitch and complaining. You have to show it when you get on the pitch and that is what I tried to do last season. I did the same and that is what I will continue to do.
"I want to play as much as possible so I can help the team. It’s about accepting when you can’t play, how can you help the team and how can you contribute. The way to show it is show it on the pitch rather than make noise off it"
Nketiah's path is interesting to compare to the man who is following in footsteps. Folarin Balogun has also made the step up from Hale End to Arsenal's first team via a loan spell elsewhere, but it seems the American could look to take a different path. football.london understands that Arsenal will listen offers of around £50million for Balogun who has interest from Inter Milan among others. While Nketiah doesn't want to be drawn too much on the intricacies of his younger teammates situation, he is willing to admit that he has confidence that Balogun will make the right decision this summer.
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