It is still early in this Carabao Cup third-round tie and QPR's defenders are busy getting organised. Eze and Nketiah make the briefest eye contact and the grift is on: Eze quickly slides the ball into a vacant channel down the right side of the box, where Nketiah peels into space before unleashing a first-time shot through the goalkeeper’s legs.
It is Crystal Palace’s first glimpse of what to expect from their £25m summer signing, the second most expensive transfer in the club’s history. The understanding, the intelligence, the economy of effort: in one run and one touch, Nketiah shows the sharp edge he adds to a team.
He runs to the corner flag to unveil his phone-call celebration for the first time in a Palace shirt – the first time since his final Arsenal goal, almost a year ago, when he sealed a hat-trick against Sheffield United in the Premier League. Back then he was the man of the moment, having earned his first England cap a few days earlier, but what happened next is why he couldn’t stay at Arsenal any longer. Nketiah was dropped two games later and started only one more league game under Mikel Arteta all season.
“It was about me being happy,” says the 25-year-old. “I wasn’t unhappy – there were things I loved about the club, I’d been at Arsenal all my life – but at the end of the day, a football player wants to play football. Obviously only 11 can play and you have to respect the manager’s decision. But there comes a point when you have to think about your personal development.”
Nketiah’s was a familiar dilemma, especially among homegrown players at the top end of the Premier League, where squads are overflowing with talent. Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips fell out of the England picture while at Manchester City, Scott McTominay and Conor Gallagher were pushed out of Manchester United and Chelsea respectively this summer. Increasingly players are asking themselves: stay, or play?
This story is from the October 04, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the October 04, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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