Eddie Nketiah: 5 things you need to know about Arsenal’s Carabao Cup hero

Eddie Nketiah is the man of the moment and these are five things you should know about him.

A new English League Cub (Carabao Cup) hero emerged this week as Arsenal youngster Eddie Nketiah netted a brace in their 2-1 win over Norwich to progress to the quarter-finals.

With Arsenal down 1-0 and on the verge of an embarrassing exit at the hands of Norwich, Nketiah came off the bench to score an 85th-minute equaliser.

His fairytale didn’t end there, getting his head to a corner kick to score the winning goal in the first half of extra-time.

 

In case you’ve been wondering who this youngster is, these are five things you should know about him.

1. Arsenal got him from Chelsea

 

Nketiah was born in Lewisham, South London and started his journey into professional football at Chelsea Academy.

He was at Chelsea Academy until 2015 when he was released following coaches’ concern for his lack of physical presence.

He spent one week at Arsenal for a trial which he passed and he was quickly signed afterwards.

 

After his heroics against Norwich, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was surprised that Chelsea released the striker. 

“I don't know what happened at Chelsea, he has scored goals at youth level and sometimes I don't know why they let him go,” Wenger said.

“I don't know why. You see that more and more. Young people travel from one club to another. I don't know.”

 2. Goal scoring prowess

For keen observers who have been following Nketiah, his goals against Norwich are nothing new. The 18-year-old had been banging goals for the Arsenal Youth team.

In his debut season for the Arsenal U-18, Nketiah scored 24 to finish as top scorer. He netted 15 in his second season, three goals for the Under 19s and six goals for the Under 23.

This performance earned him a call-up to the senior side where he made his debut in the 4-2 away Europa League win at BATE Borisov in September.

3. Scoring for England

 

Nketiah’s impressive performances have not been only for Arsenal; with England youth teams, the striker has also been prolific.

He has two hat-tricks already for England's Under 18s and Under 19s.

4. Started his career as a midfielder

Nketiah was used as a midfielder at Chelsea but was converted to a forward at Arsenal. Having grown up as an Arsenal fan, he looked up to Thierry Henry and a slew of former Arsenal strikers.

Asked who he looked up to while he was growing up, he said; “Thierry, Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright were all great strikers, attacking players and I watched them a lot.

“Especially Thierry when he was working with us, I used to work with him quite a bit on and off the field, so I’m just trying to emulate even a little bit of what they did, that would be a dream come true for me.”

5. The first player born after Arsene Wenger took over at Arsenal to score for the club

 

Following his brace on Tuesday, Nketiah became the first player born after Wenger joined Arsenal to score for the club.

It is surely a dream come through for the London-born player who has been an Arsenal fan since he was a child.

“Arsenal showed they were interested in me was one of the happiest days I can remember. It wasn’t only because I’ve always been an Arsenal fan, but two days earlier I was told that I would be released by Chelsea and not given a scholarship for this season,” Nketiah told Arsenal’s official website in September 2015.

“I was so down, but then Arsenal found out I was available, contacted my family and invited me to train.”