Gary Neville believes Eddie Nketiah has a ‘real opportunity’ to push himself towards a first senior England cap amid a ‘dearth’ of English centre forwards.
Fresh off a match-winning display against Manchester United, Neville backed the Three Lions’ U21 record goalscorer to soon become part of Gareth Southgate’s senior plans.
Southgate was in attendance at the Emirates on Sunday to watch Nketiah continue his fine form for Mikel Arteta’s side in the absence of Gabriel Jesus.
Gary Neville thinks Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah has a chance to get a call-up for England
‘Nketiah, you look at him and the dearth of English centre forwards… I think he’s got a real opportunity at the moment,’ Neville said on the Gary Neville podcast.
‘(Dominic) Calvert-Lewin’s not quite there at the moment. (Callum) Wilson is good, but is he going to be around another three, four, five years? Harry Kane, we know, is fantastic. (Jamie) Vardy obviously is not here anymore.’
While the bright lights of Wembley may be on the minds of his supporters, Neville believes Nketiah would do well to remain focused on the promising role he is currently undertaking at club level.
‘But at the moment, the best thing that Eddie Nketiah can do is really just contribute to this Arsenal team and this very special run that they’re on,’ he said. ‘And this very special season that they’re having.’
Nketiah is England’s all-time U21 record goalscorer with 16 goals from 17 appearances
England manager Gareth Southgate was on hand to watch Nketiah’s match-winning display
Nketiah’s international future is still undecided, despite turning down Ghana prior to the World Cup.
While the decision was a blow to the Black Stars, Nketiah has yet to declare his intention to play for England, nor rule out ever appearing for the country of his parents.
Although Nketiah may not posses the same fear factor as some of the top strikers across the Premier League, Neville believes he can still cause havoc.
The 23-year-old scored the winner – and his second goal – on Sunday with an instinctive flick
‘I want my strikers to not only score goals but threaten space in-behind, really give centre backs a difficult time and he’s done that in all the games that I’ve watched.
‘I thought he was fantastic today, and if you work as hard as he does, what you do is get your rewards at the right moments.’
And that he did with a 24th minute equaliser, before a stoppage-time winner in the 3-2 win over Manchester United, leaving them five points clear at the top.
Nketiah understandably celebrated wildly after giving Arsenal the winning goal against United