Eddie Nketiah: From the day he came in, Mikel said ‘I believe in you’

To become the Arsenal centre forward has taken quite a journey and there are journeys within journeys, so let’s start on a bus heading out of New Cross, carrying a rather small boy with big dreams and a big heart. With him are his older sisters, who have had to dash out of school and are at an age when there are plenty of things a girl would rather be doing.

But they are here, and that’s the first thing you need to know about Eddie Nketiah: his family and all that shaped him are with him, every step of the way.

That bus would take him to Peckham. His sisters, Shaundel and Mirayde, would dash from their school to his one — Addey and Stanhope, in Lewisham — and get him to a pick-up point in Peckham, where he would meet another promising footballer, Tammy Abraham, and wait for a car to arrive and take them to Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham.

From A to B, it was a traipse of about two hours. “I’d finish school at three o’clock and had to get to Peckham for four, to meet Tammy. He lived in that area and we went to training together. Chelsea organised a driver,” Nketiah says. “My sisters were about 15, 16 and it was a big sacrifice — there were a lot of things they would probably rather be doing. But, even before that, before we had the pick-up, we had to take a bus to Waterloo Station and then go all the way [by train] to Surrey.

Nketiah made his Arsenal debut in 2017 but is only now getting a true run as the club’s starting striker

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“It’s a long journey, man, and then when I joined Arsenal I had to go south to north through London — another long journey. So, I’m really thankful for my sisters’ support.”

Shaundel and Mirayde will be there on Wednesday, when Arsenal play the biggest game of the title race so far, against Manchester City at Emirates Stadium. So, too, will be Eddie’s mum and dad, Elizabeth and Edward, and close friends, some who have known him since primary school. They come to every game.

They were there when he wasn’t in the team and they are there now he is. “We’ve got a nice little army behind me, to be fair,” Nketiah says grinning, “I like the support around me, the people who have been with me for a while — not only when you’re doing well. That’s important, I think. So, big shout out to them, for their love.”

Nketiah joined the Arsenal academy in 2015 after leaving Chelsea aged 14

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Such grounding, and his strong religious faith, seems to be what gave Nketiah the stability of character to bide his time and grab his moment when it finally came at Arsenal. He made his debut in 2017 but despite scoring 15 seconds into his second appearance and being hailed by Arsène Wenger, it’s only now that he’s getting a true run as the club’s starting striker. And, watching Nketiah — his movement, his link-up, his speed, his infectious effervescence on the pitch — what you see is pent-up talent unleashed and making its mark.

“I think sometimes, when you put the work in, when you get your moment, you’re ready to take it, and by the grace of God I was ready to take mine,” Nketiah says.

“But I have so much more to give, so much more to do, that I could still get a lot better.” What is paying off now is “work, hard work — over the seasons, during the off-seasons, doing extras outside the pitch, learning about my game. Plus the support I had, the faith and just chipping away”.

Although the period since the World Cup, with Gabriel Jesus injured, is the first time that Nketiah has been Arsenal’s undisputed main striker, perhaps the crucial point in his career was last April when, after a run of defeats, he came into the side and lifted it with two goals in a win against Chelsea. He was about to turn 23 and had been at Arsenal since being released at 14 by Chelsea. How did he feel during the long period of waiting (which included a loan spell at Leeds United) for the opportunity?

“My thought process varied,” he says. “Frustration at times, wanted to play. Patience. Wanting to work hard and prove yourself in training. That was my attitude.

Nketiah says he has “improved so much” under Arteta

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“From the time I broke into the first team, we had three different managers. I made my debut under Wenger, did well, felt like I had made progress after scoring, and then a new manager comes in, Unai [Emery], and you have to do the process all over again. And again when Mikel [Arteta] came in.

“It’s been nice under Mikel, it’s been stable. I have to say since the day he came in, he said, ‘I believe in you and I’ll give you opportunities’, and he’s done that. I’ve improved so much thanks to him.”

Last April came at the end of a “difficult” spell. “There was talk about my contract and me signing [an extension] or not and I hadn’t played a lot,” he says. “My first Premier League start of the season was versus Southampton, the game before Chelsea, and scoring those goals was a big moment for me, one where all the work over the years came together. My dad always says, ‘It never goes unknown — God always gives you your rewards.’ ”

What followed was a run in the team, further goals, a new contract and a new shirt number — No 14, that of his idol Thierry Henry. “It was a nice ending, when you go through tough times, and bits of suffering, and bits of frustration, and really proud time for me and my family,” he says.

After the arrival of Jesus from Manchester City in the summer, Nketiah had to wait for his chance again. No one has ever questioned his finishing but doubters said he wouldn’t be able to reproduce the all-round contribution of Jesus — sidelined after injuring a knee at the World Cup. That Nketiah has done so does not surprise those who know his game, including Wenger who, back in 2017, when Nketiah was 18, said: “He has a nose for the goal but he’s not only a goal-getter. That is what is interesting with him.”

With a smile, Nketiah says the wider dimensions to his play “have always been there,” adding: “Of course, they’ve improved; the tactical understanding, the knowledge of the areas and spaces to go into to receive a pass and affect defenders more, the build-up play — these are all things where Mikel has helped me to come on leaps and bounds. But taking on players, running in behind, I’ve always had that, always had more than goals. When you score a lot of goals in your [youth] career, that’s the only thing people see, the numbers.

“I’m 23 and humble enough to accept I’m not the finished article. If I’m at a level where I can affect games in the Premier League. That’s the exciting part, because I know there are lots of ways I can still improve.”

Nketiah enjoys a strong bond with Saka and his fellow team-mates

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We go back over the story of his youth career. From Deptford, Nketiah is part of a rich tradition of south London talent filtering north to Arsenal. Back-in-the-day examples include David Rocastle, Kevin Campbell and Ian Wright, who has been a mentor. Now, there’s Nketiah, Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe. Nketiah played at Hilly Fields and Honor Oak Sports Ground, just as Wright (who grew up in Brockley) once did.

Chelsea scouted him aged nine. “I’d played a season of proper football for the local Sunday team, the Hillyfielders, and I was loving it and that kind of continued into Chelsea — had good trials, played well, scoring throughout the age groups,” he says. “When he was released [at the same time as Declan Rice] it came as a bit of a shock. “I was physically underdeveloped, small for my age, and it felt like a big moment because growing up in a sporting area, everyone knows you’re the young player who plays for Chelsea, and it almost becomes part of your identity. So it’s very tough to take it and let go.”

However, a scout, Ian Gilmour, whose son, Charlie, played for Arsenal at Nketiah’s age group couldn’t believe Chelsea were discarding a kid who always excelled, and scored, when he saw him at youth games. A close friend, Joe Willock, “put a few good words in for me as well” and a week later Nketiah — an Arsenal fan, anyway — joined the club’s academy. “That was massively important for me, to bounce back and not have time to dwell on [being released].”

Nketiah is England‘s record scorer at under-21 level but is yet to play a senior international

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His bond with fellow academy graduate, Bukayo Saka, is clear and the friendships within a group of players of the same generation are one of the strengths of Arsenal — the Premier League’s youngest side. “Everyone has different personal relationships but it comes from the environment as a whole, which is something Mikel and his staff have created,” he says. “Everyone is just happy to come into work, and we enjoy being in each other’s company. Since I’ve been at the club, it’s definitely the best changing-room atmosphere.”

He is England’s record scorer at under-21 level but hasn’t played a senior international and Ghana, for whom he qualifies through his parents, explored capping him before the World Cup. Gareth Southgate may have to move quickly. Increasingly, Nketiah looks the most convincing alternative to Harry Kane. “The international future hasn’t been decided yet, but all I can do is focus on my club football and naturally those things will fall into place if you’re doing the right things,” Nketiah says.

Last summer, he visited Ghana to support a charity close to his heart, the Street Children Empowerment Foundation, another journey-within-the-journey that tells so much about Eddie, his personality and his values. “I’m proud of my heritage,” he says. “It was important being able to not just donate but spend time with the kids, just give them that little day of happiness, really connect. They were amazing, man, so happy. They could dance as well — they even dragged some moves out of me. It made me so happy to see how happy they could be with what little they have.”

Arsenal v Manchester CityWednesday, 7.30pmAmazon Prime