Chris Sutton has praised The Brazilian for being horrible, but admitted that he would start Eddie Nketiah ahead of the Arsenal star due to his finishing ability.
Sutton was speaking to The Monday Night Club on BBC Radio Five Live after Nketiah bagged a brilliant hat-trick to lead the Gunners to a 5-0 win over Sheffield United on Saturday.
Eddie Nketiah stole the show at the Emirates. With Gabriel Jesus injured, Nketiah got the chance to start in the Premier League against the Blades. And he certainly made the most of the opportunity, scoring an outstanding hat-trick.
It was a real statement for Nketiah, who has had to deal with doubters throughout his time in the Arsenal first-team. However, it was perhaps not enough to convince some.
Chris Sutton would start Eddie Nketiah ahead of Gabriel Jesus
Speaking on Match of the Day, Alan Shearer suggested that Nketiah is never going to be first-choice striker at Arsenal.
Chris Sutton however, believes that Nketiah has the talent to prove his doubters wrong – particularly if he can add a nasty side to his game.
And he went on to admit that he would actually start Nketiah in the number nine position ahead of Jesus – even though the Brazilian does have that edge to him.
“It’s interesting, Alan Shearer’s comments on Nketiah, did he say he’d never be the first-choice number nine or words to that effect? I think he’s a really talented player. The way he took his first goal, brilliant, brilliant touch and awareness. And everybody talks about the third goal. But he is a finisher. He is. He’s 24 years old. He still has time on his side. So I wouldn’t go as far as what Alan said about him, because I do think he has time. Look at Ian Wright, got into the game late, really, really developed and kicked on,” he told The Monday Night Club.
“I’m not going to write Nketiah off at all because I think he is so talented that that [nastiness] can still come.
“So Jesus has great attributes, but one of them, I think it’s fair to say, isn’t being a natural finisher. I think we’d all agree that Nketiah is a better natural finisher than Jesus. But what is Jesus? He is horrible. If you had a bit of both, they’d be perfect, wouldn’t they?
“I’d start him then,” he replied when pushed on whether he would pick Nketiah over Jesus following his comments.
Arsenal striker looks set to always have his doubters
It does feel as though there are always going to be hurdles for Nketiah to clear. He did an outstanding job when he came into the Arsenal side after Gabriel Jesus sustained a serious injury at the World Cup last year.
Some are now pointing at the fact that Nketiah’s hat-trick came against Sheffield United as a way to play it down.
But it was three moments of sheer quality from the England international. And it will do his confidence the world of good.
With the £45 million man injured, Nketiah has a good run in the side to look forward to. It will be interesting to see how many goals he has to score before his critics admit they were maybe wrong.
