Eddie Nketiah's £30 Million Move to Crystal Palace

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah is reportedly on the verge of completing a move to Crystal Palace as the club has allowed him to undertake a medical. The said deal is also reported to be worth £30 million with add-ons, which is quite significant for both clubs.

Nketiah has turned 25 over his current transfer window and has been at Arsenal since his debut as a professional footballer, except for a brief loan spell at Leeds United. This whole time, he scored 38 goals in a total of 168 games. At the new club, he will find himself in the company of Chadi Riad, Ismaila Sarr, and Daichi Kamada, who are also major acquisitions for Crystal Palace in the past transfer window. The parties have agreed on £25 million for the player and a possibility of other £5 million due to performance-based add-ons. Earlier in August, the player was expected to move to Nottingham Forest on the same basis, but the contract was not arranged. A potential destination was also thought to be Marseille, but such a move also did not happen.

Thus, as Arsenal has agreed to the player’s departure, it will most likely try to tie a deal with Everton for their striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The player has only a single year remaining on his current contract, so this acquisition might be beneficial for Mikel Arteta’s squad. As the reports suggest, Arsenal is facing competition from Chelsea as the other side is also strengthening their squad, and Newcastle who are about to be acquired by a Saudi group of investors. Transfermarkt values the player at £18.5 million, although the stakeholders may later settle for a different sum.

In conclusion, Nketiah’s transfer is another case of home-grown Arsenal talent leaving the club as it happened to Emile Smith Rowe to join Fulham. Arsenal’s transfer strategy seems to hinge on selling home-grown and developed talents to acquire new footballers.

In conclusion, both Calvert-Lewin and Nketiah’s potential transfer situations and their implications for both Arsenal and Crystal Palace show how dynamic and unpredictable the world of football is. The departure of Calvert-Lewin could result in Aubameyang and Lacazette as the only central strikers, which would not be sufficient for a viable squad in the Premier League and european competitions this season. Meanwhile, as Palace struggle to find the net following two early defeats in their first two games, signing Nketiah could also be a crucial opportunity to boost their attacking options. It appears that the forward is regarded as a player who can bring the much-needed mobility to Roy Hodgson’s frontline, as he has been a successful lively forward in the under-21 system, having become England’s all-time leading scorer at that level. Hence, it will be intriguing to follow how both transfers and the potential integration influence both clubs in their domestic and European campaigns this season.