Why Eddie Nketiah won’t leave Arsenal this summer?

According to reports, Arsenal turned down a new offer from Olympique Marseille for Eddie Nketiah, a striker. Nketiah joined Arsenal's academy from Chelsea in 2015, and he has spent his whole professional career with the club, with the exception of a temporary loan with Leeds United in 2019.

After that, the 25-year-old made 168 competitive games with the first team, contributing seven assists and 28 goals. During the previous season, Nketiah played seven of Arsenal's opening eight Premier League games, but he quickly lost ground to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus. Nketiah is willing to leave the team in order to receive consistent playing time elsewhere, having concluded the season with just 10 starts in the top division. 

Having added multiple players to their roster this summer, most notably Mason Greenwood, the forward from Manchester United, Marseille has emerged as the front-runner to sign Nketiah. Nketiah has been identified by the French squad as an option for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is pushing for his former mate from Arsenal to finalize his transfer to Ligue 1. 

Nketiah and Marseille have already reached a personal agreement, opening the door for the two teams to discuss a transfer fee. Journalist Fabrizio Romano claims that Arsenal has rejected Marseille's most recent bid, which is estimated to be worth about €27 million.

Why won't Eddie Nketiah be able to join Olympique Marseille?

According to various rumors, Arsenal may ask for between £40 million and £50 million for their academy product. The club would benefit from the sale of this asset by avoiding any possible problems with the Premier League's Profit and Suitability regulations.

But the Daily Mail claims that the Gunners want to get £30 million for a player whose contract expires in June 2027. The asking fee from Arsenal is comparable to the recent agreement they reached with Fulham on the sale of Emile Smith Rowe, another youth graduate. After the two teams came to a deal over the original £27 million cost plus a further £7 million in add-ons, the Cottagers announced on Friday that they had agreed to sign the midfield player.