Premier League: Who is Eddie Nketiah, the Arsenal striker who scored a brace against Chelsea?

Edward Keddar Nketiah was born in Lewisham, England, United Kingdom, on May 30, 1999. He is a British footballer and plays as a striker for Arsenal F. C. of the English Premier League.

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Nketiah began his career with Chelsea after being scouted at the age of nine while playing for South East London side Hillyfielders. He was released by Chelsea in 2015.

Career at Arsenal

He then joined the Arsenal Academy and played for the club at youth levels. During the 2016-17 season, Nketiah scored 15 goals in 16 appearances for the U-18s and also scored 12 goals in 26 appearances for the U-23s.

On September 28, 2017, Nketiah was again called up to the senior squad, this time for Arsenal's Europa League match against BATE Borisov. He came on as an 89th-minute substitute for Joe Willock as Arsenal won 4-2.

His next appearance was almost a month later against Norwich City in the League Cup as an 85th-minute substitute, scoring after 15 seconds with his first touch to tie the game, adding another in extra time to win it for the Gunners.

He scored his first Premier League goal on the final day of the season at Burnley on 12 May 2019. Nketiah also was an unused substitute in the 4-1 UEFA Europa League final defeat to Chelsea in 2018-19, receiving a runners-up medal.

Loan at Leeds

On August 8, 2019, the summer deadline day for Championship clubs, Nketiah joined Leeds United on loan for the 2019-20 season. He chose team number 14 in tribute to one of his former Arsenal youth coaches, Thierry Henry. Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa described Nketiah on signing as a "young and important player in English soccer".

After scoring his fourth goal of the season in Leeds' 2-0 win over Barnsley on 15 September 2019, Bielsa described Nketiah as a "complete player". After being behind Patrick Bamford in the pecking order, Marcelo Bielsa revealed that Nketiah would have the opportunity to become the first choice striker against Queens Park Rangers, however, the day before the match, Nketiah suffered a lower abdominal injury that kept him out of action for a month. 

Return to Arsenal

He returned to Arsenal mid-season in the 2019-20 campaign where he made 19 official appearances for the Gunners and where he was able to score 4 goals, 2 in the Premier League and two in the FA Cup.

In the 2020-21 season, he managed to play 28 games for the first team and scored a total of 6 goals. Finally, in the current campaign, the striker has participated in 21 games and scored 7 goals, surpassing his best record. The striker has always been a second choice but due to his age, it seems that he will have a lot of projection for the future.

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