Exit looms as Arsenal man turns down contract offer, reports reliable source
Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah looks one step closer to leaving the club after turning down their latest offer of a new contract.
The 22-year-old forward has seen game time hard to come by under Mikel Arteta this season. In fact the forward has yet to play in the Premier League and has only made the squad twice all season. Arteta has relied on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, while Gabriel Martinelli has been introduced from the bench ahead of Nketiah.
The former Leeds loanee’s contract expires next June and the club and Arteta want the player to stay.
“I have full belief that he is going to be a top, top player and hopefully at Arsenal. I’m happy to have him, he is our player, I regard him really highly and from my side I want him to stay,” Arteta said in October.
But Sky Sports News report that “Nketiah has turned down the club’s latest contract offer”.
The outlet insist: “Nketiah’s decision is not motivated by finances, but about playing regular football.”
Eddie Nketiah has turned down a latest contract extension offered by Arsenal. [@SkySportsNews]. pic.twitter.com/E8uEVOQYPS
— TheAFCnewsroom (@TheAFCnewsroom) December 1, 2021
Nketiah’s contract situation means he can speak to foreign clubs in January and sign a pre-contract agreement. A free-transfer move though to another English club would have to wait until the summer.
Arsenal would get around £8m in compensation though if he does leave for another English club.
Tottenham and Arsenal firmly in running to raid Serie A for deadly striker
Arteta points to Nketiah ‘situation’
The former England Under-21 star almost left the club in the summer.
Arteta has alluded to a “situation in the summer that we tried to resolve and we couldn’t either way”.
Crystal Palace were keen on signing the Lewisham-born forward, but according to talkSPORT Palace baulked at Arsenal’s £20m asking price. The deal also included a sell-on fee and a buy-back clause.
Palace instead signed Celtic attacker Odsonne Edouard in a £14m deal.
The Daily Mail has previously claimed that Nketiah has told the club that he wants out.
And now Nketiah has turned his back on the club’s latest offer and a transfer looks more than likely.
READ MORE: Arsenal backed to land ‘powerhouse’ star in replacement for sub-par capture
The post Exit looms as Arsenal man turns down contract offer, reports reliable source appeared first on TEAMtalk.