Arsenal young striker Eddie Nketiah has revealed it is possible for him to switch his permanent nationality to play for the Black Stars of Ghana.
The 22-year old is set to leave the Gunners when his contract runs out at the end of the season as he has never been a typical first team player at the club.
‘Of course it is a possibility. I’m open to both, playing for Ghana and playing for England as well. It’s always good to have the opportunity to potentially do that’, he told the Beautiful Game podcast.
Born in London and raised in Lewisham, Nketiah started his career with Chelsea after being scouted at the age of nine while playing for south-east London Sunday team Hillyfielders. He was released by Chelsea in 2015.
Nketiah has 18 goals in 85 games for Arsenal and spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Leeds United in the Championship.
Nketiah is known for his pace and movement, his style has been compared to former Arsenal striker Ian Wright. In August 2019 he described Wright as his “mentor”.
In January 2019, Nketiah reportedly turned down a call up from Ghana manager James Kwesi Appiah to the senior Ghana national side, with Nketiah favouring England. In September of the next year, Nketiah captained England U21s for the first time and scored a hat-trick during a 6–0 victory over Kosovo U21s.
Ghana has qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be played in Qatar later this year and that could influence his decision to switch to Ghana where he likely will play more regularly than the Three Lions of England.
