Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah branded ‘daft’ and ‘naive’ by Danny Mills after claims agent’s fee and wage demands scuppered Crystal Palace transfer on deadline day

September 1, 2021

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah has been labelled ‘daft’ and ‘naive’ following the collapse of a proposed transfer to Crystal Palace.

Out-of-favour ace Nketiah was primed to leave the Emirates and kick-start his career in the Premier League but, in the end, the Eagles landed Celtic ace Odsonne Edouard instead.

Nketiah could be frozen out at Arsenal after failing to leave the club

With the Gunners keeping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, as well as starlet Gabriel Martinelli and Folarin Balogun, Nketiah’s time on the pitch is set to be limited this season.

The 22-year-old was highly-rated but a disappointing loan spell at Leeds and limited opportunites in the Arsenal first-team have stunted his growth.

A switch to Palace seemed like the perfect way to restart a career packed with potential.

But talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook alleged the deal fell through due to demands of the the player and his representative.

Nketiah is a promising talent but needs regular football to ensure he fulfils it

He said on deadline day: “One Premier League chief executive said the problem with the Crystal Palace deal wasn’t Arsenal’s asking price.

“It was the demands of his agent, in terms of agent’s fees, and it was Eddie Nketiah’s wage demands that have priced him out of a move from Arsenal this transfer window.”

And former Premier League defender Danny Mills believes he’s made a foolish mistake by remaining at Arsenal.

“He’s daft, that’s what it is,” said the talkSPORT pundit.

“He’s being badly advised. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to take two steps forwards.

Nketiah faces a tough season at Arsenal trying to break into the first-team

“You have to back yourself and say: ‘You know what, it’s not really what I want right now, I might have to take a little bit of a cut, but I’m going to go there.

“‘I’m going to go there and score goals, I’m going to show how good I am and then the season after that or the season after that, everyone is going to be coming in after me because I’ve scored 15, 20 goals in the Premier League.

“‘And then Palace aren’t going to be able to keep hold of me because there will be too many clubs in for me’.

“I think that’s very naive, because what will happen is you’ll have this season where you will do absolutely nothing, you end up on a free transfer and everyone is going, ‘well, you’ve not played for a year, you don’t really know what you’re doing’.

“You’re always best to go out and play, no matter what.”