Arsenal have announced Eddie Nketiah has signed a new contract.
The striker’s old deal expired this summer and he looked set to leave after rejecting multiple attempts to get him to sign an extension.
Yet following extensive talks in recent weeks, and having enjoyed a successful end to the 2021/22 season which saw him start eight consecutive Premier League games, a new contract has now been agreed.
MORE: How to watch the Premier League in Canada in 2022/23
Eddie Nketiah contract with Arsenal
Nketiah has agreed a five-year deal, which will run until 2027.
He becomes the latest product of Arsenal’s Hale End academy to sign a new long-term extension, following on from Bukayo Saka in 2020 and Emile Smith Rowe in 2021.
Arsenal confirmed Nketiah's new contract on Saturday afternoon, ending the hopes of clubs like Crystal Palace and Brighton who were all hoping to sign the 22-year-old.
Ready for a new chapter 🤝
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) June 18, 2022
From joining us aged 14, to wearing No. 14 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/CGqMUkVnv0
"I'm delighted Eddie is staying with us," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told the club's web site. "He represents what we are all about and all the values of the club.
"We are very happy that he has extended his contract and now we have to get to work and continue to develop the great talent and person that we have in him."
Why is Nketiah wearing Thierry Henry's No. 14 shirt?
Arteta's words seem to be a sign of what he has in store for the 23-year-old forward in 2022/23. Nketiah assumed a more important role in the squad toward the end of the season and the jersey number change that came with the new contract is a potential indication as to what's next.
Nketiah is taking on Arsenal's legendary No.14 — the shirt worn by all-time record scorer Thierry Henry. The number was also worn by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Theo Walcott, two players who were among the club's most important figures during their time.
Nketiah started the last eight Premier League matches of the 2021/22 season, and although Arsenal ultimately missed out on a Champions League berth, the forward excelled. He scored five goals in that span, more than Alexandre Lacazette netted all season. His 21 total league appearances were a career high.
The Gunners have been linked with forwards across Europe in recent months, but if Arteta believes that Nketiah "represents what we're truly about," then the player should have every opportunity to claim the starting forward role in preseason. If he didn't receive some level of assurances that he was in the mix, it's unlikely he would have signed a new deal.
Time for Nketiah to prove the doubters wrong
By Charles Watts, GOAL's Arsenal correspondent
The last few months have seen a major turnaround in fortunes for Nketiah.
Up until April 16, he hadn’t started a single Premier League game and looked certain to be leaving for free, before Arteta gave him a chance in place of the misfiring Alexandre Lacazette.
It was a chance Nketiah grasped with both hands, scoring five goals in eight starts.
𝗢𝘂𝗿 Eddie ❤️ pic.twitter.com/sf1lOynTqT
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) June 18, 2022
The form he showed saw Arsenal double their efforts to keep him at the club and now he has been rewarded with a lucrative long-term deal.
Nketiah’s challenge now is to maintain the type of form he showed during that run at the end of last season. He must prove that it was not just a flash in the pan.
He has an opportunity now to really cement himself as an important figure at the club and prove his doubters — of which there are still many — wrong.
There will be lots of talk about Nketiah taking on the No.14 shirt, but what it does show is that the youngster is certainly not short on confidence.
He now has big boots to fill at Arsenal. Whether he can do that, remains to be seen.
How to watch the Premier League in Canada
- Dates: Aug. 6, 2022 through May 28, 2023
- Streaming: fuboTV
Premier League matches can be seen in Canada all season long on fuboTV, the nation's leading streaming service for world-class soccer, including OneSoccer and beIN Sports programming:
- Premier League (England)
- Serie A & Coppa Italia (Italy)
- Ligue 1 (France on beIN Sports)
- Super Lig (Turkey on beIN Sports)
- Liga MX (Mexico on OneSoccer)
- Canada Premier League (Canada on OneSoccer)
- Copa Libertadores & Sudamericana (South America on beIN Sports)
- Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying (Africa on OneSoccer)
- CONCACAF Nations League (OneSoccer)
- Benfica TV (Portugal)
All 380 Premier League matches and the soccer competitions above come with a fuboTV subscription that features more than a dozen popular sports and entertainment channels (full list of available channels in Canada), including a collection of other sports (Major League Baseball, motocross, boxing, and wrestling).
A fuboTV subscription also comes with simultaneous streaming on three screens and up to 1,000 hours of DVR storage.
How much does fuboTV cost in Canada?
Fans of the Premier League and its clubs can take advantage of a two-week window (June 16-30) for a special fuboTV sign-up offer coinciding with the EPL schedule release. It applies to quarterly and annual packages (all prices below in CAD):
| Package | Special Price (June 16-30) | Regular Price |
| Monthly | N/A | $19.99 |
| Quarterly | $19.99 ($6.67 monthly) SAVE $30 | $49.99 |
| Annual | $99.99 ($8.33 monthly) SAVE $80 | $179.99 |
The promotional prices above will apply to the first billing cycle only. After the first billing cycle, users will renew at the regular retail rate. The special offer does not include the monthly package.
