Set to sign
©Imago/Content stadium
After more than 160 appearances for his boyhood club, Eddie Nketiah seems finally set to depart Arsenal as a move away from the North London club is reportedly on the verge of completion. According to the Athletic, Premier League side Crystal Palace are close to agreeing a deal with Arsenal that will see the 25-year-old talent depart in a deal worth a reported €35 million – with €30m being paid up-front and an additional €5m in add-ons. The move will take Arsenal’s income from player sales this summer to €61m and their net spend in the transfer window to just €15.1m.
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Over the course of the last eight seasons, Nketiah has made a name for himself as an exciting attacking prospect, with a clear eye for goal. Although the young forward departs Arsenal having never nailed down a consistent starting role in Mikel Arteta’s team, his record of 19 goals and five assists in 4,096 minutes of Premier League football gives him a solid average of 0.53 goals and assists per 90 minutes of league football. And it’s that eye for goal that has kept him at Arsenal long after he was still considering a young prospect and clearly what has enticed Palace to make an offer for him before the end of this summer’s transfer window. Should Nketiah depart Arsenal for the proposed €35m fee, he’ll become the north London club’s joint-second most valuable sale ever, sitting alongside Nicolas Anelka’s 1999 move to Real Madrid, ahead of Alexis Sánchez’s €34m move to Manchester United in 2017 and just behind Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s €38m move to Liverpool in 2017.
Nketiah likely makes the move to Palace in pursuit of regular first team football and he’s likely to find it in Oliver Glasner’s side. After selling Michael Olise and Jordan Ayew, Palace are in desperate need of additional firepower with just Jean-Philippe Mateta and Odsonne Edouard to pick from as the only striker’s in Glasner’s squad at this moment in time. Although both are considered established Premier League talents, Nketiah’s proposed move to the club will make him Palace’s most expensive signing ever, surpassing the €31.2m the club paid for Christian Benteke in 2016. However, due to the fact that Palace have already sold the aforementioned Olise and Ayew, as well as Joachim Andersen for a combined €88.8m, even a record fee for Nketiah would still keep the club’s net spend at a positive €23.8m due to the number of sales to date and the likelihood of more stars departing before the transfer window draws to a close.