The major Eddie Nketiah claim that makes Gabriel Jesus transfer a necessity for Arsenal

Former Arsenal forward Paul Merson says there’s ‘no chance’ that Eddie Nketiah will manage to fire the Gunners into the top four next season.

The 23-year-old recently agreed on a new five-year contract at the Emirates Stadium last week after initially appearing like he might leave on a free with his previous deal expiring. Instead, a purple patch at the end of the campaign that saw him score five goals in Arsenal's final eight games saw him given a fresh contract and the famous number 14 shirt previously worn by club legend Thierry Henry.

The news was welcomed by Arsenal fans who were keen to see the young forward stay in north London and not move elsewhere, with Premier League rivals Crystal Palace among the clubs interested in taking Nketiah away from the Emirates. Had Mikel Arteta seen Nketiah leave it could have spelt trouble for the Gunners next season up front, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette both departing in the same season as Arsenal missed out on Champions League qualification to bitter rivals Spurs.

The club are now hoping to sign reinforcements to help Nketiah fire Arsenal into the top four next season, with Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus reportedly close to sealing a £45million move to the Emirates to help score the goals that could push them further up the table and closer to Europe’s premier club competition. But if Arteta and Edu fail to bring Jesus to the club, or any of their forward transfer targets for that matter, then former striker Merson says that Nketiah can absolutely not be relied upon to score the all-important goals needed for a top-four finish, brutally telling the Daily Star on Saturday that the youngster wouldn’t even be the first choice at newly-promoted Fulham.

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