Eddie Nketiah completes Arsenal exit on deadline day

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah has joined Crystal Palace on a permanent transfer.

The Gunners had been looking to sell their homegrown star prior to Friday's deadline having already seen two sales collapse - Marseille were interested in Nketiah but didn't quite meet Arsenal's asking price, while he was unable to reach an agreement with Bournemouth on personal terms.

Earlier this week, Palace emerged as the new frontrunners to acquire Nketiah, agreeing an initial £25m fee plus a further £5m in add-ons.

And Nketiah's move to Selhurst Park was confirmed on Friday with only hours of the transfer window remaining.

Nketiah leaves Arsenal after first joining the club as a teenager from Chelsea. After two years in the Gunners' youth ranks, he was drafted into the senior setup.

After making his debut at the end of a Europa League group stage win against BATE Borisov, Nketiah came off the bench to score twice to propel Arsenal to a Carabao Cup victory against Norwich, finding the net within 15 seconds of coming on.

He featured sporadically under Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery in his early years, while he was also sent on loan to Leeds United during their promotion-winning 2019/20 campaign.

Nketiah was handed more first-team opportunities under Mikel Arteta and was handed the club's famous number 14 shirt after signing a new contract in 2022.

It was under Arteta that Nketiah forced his way into the England senior squad last year, earning one cap to date.

In total, Nketiah made 168 appearances for Arsenal and scored 38 goals.

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