Ian Wright has always been a big supporter of Arsenal academy graduates and he has shown his true colours again with Eddie Nketiah. The newly-capped England forward has revealed how Wright has had a big impact on his career.
Nketiah came through the ranks at Arsenal having been released by Chelsea at the age of 14. He made his first-team debut under Arsene Wenger in 2017 and has so far made 142 appearances in total.
He came close to leaving in the summer of 2022 but eventually put pen to paper on a new deal once Mikel Arteta convinced him he would get regular game time. Nketiah has started seven of Arsenal’s eight Premier League matches so far this season and has earned call-ups to the last two England squads.
He made his debut as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 friendly win over Australia on Friday. In the programme for the match at Wembley, Nketiah detailed how Wright went out of his way to help him earlier in his career.
Wright would attend Leeds matches when Nketiah was on loan at Elland Road to keep an eye on his progress and offer words of wisdom when needed. He said: “Ian Wright has given me a lot of advice over the years and used to watch some of my games at Leeds.
“Strikers of Ian’s calibre, who have had careers like that, it’s always nice to speak to, learn from and bounce ideas off.”
Wright remains Arsenal’s second-leading goalscorer of all time and remains a huge fan of Arteta’s side. Several players, including former England striker Jermain Defoe, have credited the pundit with helping them in their careers.
Nketiah also discussed Wright’s impact after he was first called up by Gareth Southgate in September. He said: “Ian Wright has given me a lot of advice over the years and been supportive.
“I saw him at a photo shoot recently and we were talking about the start of the season, how well I have done. I am sure in time I will speak to him about playing for England too.”
Wright recently gave his assessment of Nketiah’s showing in Arsenal’s win over Manchester City. Speaking on Wrighty’s House, he claimed Nketiah’s work rate for the team was to the detriment of his overall performance.
Wright said: “I think that it maybe took its toll on him in this game and he’ll probably be feeling a little bit disappointed simply because he didn’t get too many chances. He did a lot of work and he got taken off in the end.”
