Arsenal’s Nketiah, raised to respond to setbacks: ‘Complaining never gets you anywhere’

Eddie Nketiah has always had to fight for what is his.

Most got their first glimpse of the striker’s resolute attitude in Amazon’s All or Nothing Documentary following Arsenal’s 2021-22 season.

Nketiah was sat with Emile Smith Rowe, Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga, with the latter expressing his disappointment at losing his place in the starting XI. Without hesitation, Nketiah replied: “So what, my friend? You think you’re the f***ing only man not playing, my friend? Stop feeling sorry for yourself and f***ing wake up.”

It was a moment that signalled the player’s confidence in his ability to take his chance when it came — and he did just that. Nketiah played a key role during the conclusion of that season, starting Arsenal’s last eight games and scoring five goals. He then signed a new five-year deal that summer and has similarly stepped up when Gabriel Jesus was absent in 2022-23 and early this term.

Asked about that conversation, Nketiah laughed and said: “Obviously it was a bit of a joke between me and Sambi. We get on very well, but not every player is going to be happy when they’re not playing.

“That mentality just comes from the way I was raised, the area I grew up in (Lewisham, south east London). It was always to do the best with whatever situation you’re put in. Complaining never gets you anywhere. There are always different ways to channel your energy. That’s the way my family have always taught me and, through my area, how we’ve always been raised to channel your focus and show it in the right way on the pitch and do your talking there.”

For those who know Nketiah and that particular part of London, the clip did not come as a surprise.

“It represents someone from the area, and Eddie, very well,” Bill Cawley, Nketiah’s secondary school head of physical education at Addey and Stanhope School in Lewisham, tells The Athletic.

“He said it straight and as it was — that is Eddie’s attitude. He will do what he needs to do, he’s not going to moan, he is just going to work hard until he gets there, and he is going to fly in the face of adversity.”

That approach is how Nketiah earned his first senior England call-up this month and has been a constant theme throughout his professional journey. His early Arsenal career was spent competing with Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the centre-forward spot under Mikel Arteta.

That competition has continued with Jesus, but the precursor came during his first loan spell at Leeds United in 2019-20. Nketiah could have gone to Bristol City, where he would likely have played more games. Instead, Arsenal loan manager Ben Knapper encouraged a move to Leeds as strong competition with Patrick Bamford would provide more realistic preparation for what his eventual first-team experience would be like back in north London.

Being caught in these battles has meant Nketiah is often overlooked — but that has not mattered much to him. His first major setback came when he was released by Chelsea as an under-14 player — on the same day as Declan Rice, — after six years at the club. Arsenal moved quickly, however: he was part of their youth ranks within a matter of days.

“It was one of the turning points for Eddie,” Cawley says. “He started off as quite an unassuming young lad. He always stood out as a decent footballer, but he never really spoke about it. He wasn’t one to boast and brag about anything he did, so it wasn’t for a while that we realised he was playing for Chelsea, which was quite endearing.

“Being such a small school, with 60 boys in a year group, sometimes we’re selecting players who have never played in a proper game of football. He started to develop leadership skills and took responsibility for helping out the team. Getting released affected him — as it would any young person — but he got picked up very quickly by Arsenal and that really buoyed him. He realised he had another opportunity and he was going to grasp that with both hands.

“His leadership skills developed even more after that. He took the less experienced players under his wing. On the pitch, he was the organiser, the person who told people their positions at corners, free kicks and throw-ins. He would be the communicator on the pitch, relaying the information given to him. Even at an early age, you could see that he had footballing knowledge and leadership skills to understand the game.”

In recent years, those aspects of Nketiah’s character have come to the fore at Arsenal. The striker — who was captain during his time playing for England Under-21s — was named skipper against Monaco in pre-season, and was given the armband by Martin Odegaard after the Norweigan was substituted in the 2-2 draw against Fulham in the Premier League.

The 24-year-old also spoke about taking on more of a “big brother” role for Arsenal’s youngsters during their pre-season trip to Nuremberg in July.

Arteta has always had time for Nketiah, who he considers a hard worker and reliable on-pitch communicator. Arteta was Arsenal manager when the England Under-21s record scorer returned from his loan at Leeds — and the Spaniard was playing Nketiah within weeks because of the impression he gave in training. Nketiah was Arsenal’s starting striker when the Covid-19 lockdown hit and he kept his place when Arsenal returned away to Manchester City in June 2020.

In March 2021, when Nketiah started just once since December, Arteta said: “It hurts because of how Eddie behaves and trains every day and because he’s a player from our academy, but he will have his chance. He needs to be patient and he’s showing no signs of lacking attitude or anything like that; it’s the complete opposite. He’s a joy to work with and he deserves minutes and if he doesn’t get it, it’s just my fault.”

With Arsenal out of Europe the following season, Nketiah had to rely on the Carabao Cup for opportunities and scored in each of his three starts (including a hat-trick in the quarter-finals against Sunderland).

By December 2021, talk of Nketiah’s contract running down had begun. But Arteta shut down the idea right away: “I tell you every day that we want to keep Eddie. It’s not about anything else but minutes. He wants game time, he wants to be on that field and that is the only reason to say can I do it here? That’s the question. We all want him to stay.”

That question was somewhat answered when Nketiah was drafted into the starting XI in April 2022. His first display was promising in a 1-0 defeat against Southampton, but it was his performance against Chelsea four days later that stole the show. Against his old club, he scored two goals in a 4-2 win. “If there is one player I have been unfair with, I think it’s him (Nketiah)… today he showed me again how wrong I was,” Arteta said after the match.

The forward’s game is becoming even more rounded, and despite being on the bench for the Community Shield win over Manchester City, he started against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League opener a week later and scored the first goal. Arteta called him a “role model” for his attitude to training and brought him on for the second half against Fulham, where he put Arsenal 2-1 up, ended the game with the armband and kept his place the week after against Manchester United despite Jesus being fit to play.

From an England perspective, Nketiah must compete with Harry Kane and Callum Wilson for a starting spot in Gareth Southgate’s side. But, going off his career so far, it’s a battle the boy from Lewisham will relish.

“Perseverance and diligence would be the words I’d use to describe Eddie,” Cawley says.

“Perseverance because he did have setbacks. The gap between him playing for Chelsea and Arsenal could have knocked anyone’s confidence, but it didn’t. He got into the Arsenal system and turned that knock back into a positive.

“Then, if you look back one season, not many people would have said he’d be called up into the England first team. But because of how hard he’s worked, and he’s never given up, he took every single opportunity — and now look at what’s happened.

“He is reaping those rewards, and that’s what he’s been like throughout his youth all the way through to now. He makes the most of every single opportunity.”

(Top photo: Getty Images)