Arsenal are reportedly able to bring striker Eddie Nketiah back to north London from his loan spell at Leeds United if he is not getting enough valuable playing time in the Championship.
The 20-year-old forward joined Marcelo Bielsa’s side over the summer on a season-long loan and got off to a great start at Elland Road, scoring four goals in his first six appearances for the club.
He has only found the back of the net once since September 15, however, and has yet to start in the Championship, with Patrick Bamford regularly preferred over the youngster despite Bamford only scoring four times in 15 appearances in all competitions during the current campaign.
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According to The Athletic there is a clause in Nketiah’s contract with Leeds which means Arsenal can recall their player if certain performance clauses are not met.
For now, it is believed the club are not considering activating this option, especially as the Gunners have an ambundance of attacking talent such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe.
They are somewhat concerned, however, that Nketiah is still not being trusted by Bielsa to start games, and they are thought to be monitoring the situation closely.
Nketiah, who has made 19 senior appearances for Arsenal with a return of three goals, recently admitted he was disappointed with his lack of starts for Leeds.
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“It’s been disappointing for me not to start in the League,” he said following a hat-trick for England U-21s against Austria earlier this month.
“I probably haven’t been given the chances I would have liked – I would have liked to play a lot more minutes.
“But I feel like every time I’ve come on I’ve done well and I’m still the top scorer in the team. With such limited time, I don’t think I could have done much more.”
