Should Arsenal hand Eddie Nketiah a new deal?

Kolkata, June 3: Arsenal find themselves in a pretty tricky situation right now as seeming to be to be on the crossroads.

The Gunners will be without a single striker at the end of June with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah both going out of contract.

Mikel Arteta already offloaded Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang in January who eventually joined Barcelona and has made quite an impact at Camp Nou.

At 31 and evidently past his best, Lacazette looks certain to leave on a free transfer. The Frenchman became out of favor towards the end of the season anyway and offering him a contract renewal makes zero sense from Arsenal's point of view. However, they have a big decision to make with Nketiah.

The 23-year-old did quite an impressive job during the business end of the season although it still was not enough to help the Gunners achieve a top-four finish. The striker has played just 1223 minutes of first-team football across all competitions this season and his output of 10 goals in the process is still quite impressive. Also, he is at an age where there is plenty of room for him to develop.

Reports suggest that the Gunners are prepared to hand Nketiah a new deal in the range of £100,000-per-week with a £5million bonus paid out across the five-year contract. And, this would be a decision that makes plenty of sense. It is quite unlikely that Arsenal would be able to sign more than one centre-forward in the upcoming transfer window anyway.

With Nketiah already at their disposal, their priority will be to sign one top-class number nine. Although, there could an issue that the Arsenal youngster could demand more first-team football which Mikel Arteta might fail to promise him.

But, without Champions League football next season, it will be difficult for the gunners to land a top-class striker and there are not too many options available either.

Nketiah is only 23 years of age which means that Arsenal can still have a chance to cash in on him in the future if he fails to deliver at the club. As of now, he is leaving for free anyway. Therefore, the best decision for the club would be to retain their starlet who has delivered for them in crucial games towards the end of the campaign.