Eddie Nketiah came through the Hale End academy to play 168 senior games for Arsenal. Scoring 38 goals for the Gunners, he can be considered a successful youth product.
Emerging around the same time as Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka, he saved the club millions as he developed into a reliable first-team option. He then brought in millions as he left to join another Premier League side, much like Smith Rowe, in the summer of 2024.
Joining Crystal Palace in a move reported to be worth around £30m, big things were expected of the English striker. Now, around seven months later, here’s a detailed round-up of how Nketiah is getting on for his new team.
Nketiah’s Slow Start to Life at Palace
Has just one Premier League goal but cup form is good
A prolific goalscorer at youth level, and a solid enough penalty box finisher with the Gunners, Palace splashed the cash on Nketiah, hoping he could take his goalscoring exploits to the next level at Selhurst Park. In that sense, the £30m transfer has not been great value for money so far.
Although his early displays showed obvious quality, he was unable to turn this into anything tangible. Indeed, it took until his 11th Premier League outing before he finally delivered a goal contribution – an assist against rivals Brighton.
As of late April 2025, Nketiah has scored just one league goal, netting in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa. He has two assists in the league as well (if you count winning a penalty as an assist), coming from 24 outings.
He has been restricted to just seven Premier League starts with Jean-Philippe Mateta (on 13 goals), the first-choice option for Oliver Glasner. He won’t have helped his cause when he had a disastrous cameo off the bench against Brighton in early April, picking up a red card within 10 minutes.
As was the case at Arsenal, Nketiah has spent most of his time either coming off the bench, or starting in the cup competitions. At least he has proven to be more reliable in these situations, with two goals in three appearances in both the FA Cup and the League Cup.
He has actually scored in the past two rounds of the FA Cup, firing the Eagles to the semi-finals where they will meet Aston Villa. That said, it’s likely that Mateta will be trusted to start ahead of the Englishman, as was the case in the last round.
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Mixed feelings after a mixed season
Despite his obvious struggles, there seems to still be good feeling towards Nketiah, who has continued to get his head down and work hard in his debut season at Palace. For example, after his FA Cup quarter-final strike, captain Marc Guehi praised his teammate, prompting well-known Eagles podcaster HLTCO to add:
“You don’t hear a single bad word about Eddie Nketiah from anyone at Palace. By every measure, he’s the model pro; well liked, incredibly hard working, never moans or causes problems. This from Guehi and the players reaction to his goals speak volumes.”
In his most recent outing, he came off the bench vs Bournemouth with Palace down to 10 men. The game would end 0-0, with Nketiah handed a 6/10 player rating for his 15-minute cameo.
Journalist Bobby Manzi did at least back him to start against Arsenal in the next game (April 23): Did not do much, albeit he had limited service. Would make sense to start him against Arsenal on Wednesday, following a busy week and an FA Cup semi-final to come on Saturday.”
In truth, it’s been a real season of ups and downs for Nketiah. Perhaps best summed up by his back-to-back outings vs Southampton and Brighton. He impressed off the bench vs the Saints, with fans noting he looked ‘lively, nearly scored a worldie for the win.’ And: “His pace late in games will have back lines waking up in cold sweats. He was dangerous, and just missed a Golazo late to win it.”
But just days later, he was sent off in the derby vs Brighton, leaving many fans furious. At least one supporter could see the funny side of things, writing an honest assessment:
“Nketiah: I’m not even sure what to say. For 30m been a big disappointment but he came on vs Brighton and kicked one of their players in the face and go sent off. Kinda warrants cult hero.”