Eddie Nketiah has mirrored on how being launched by Chelsea as a teenager helped make himself and Arsenal teammate Declan Rice the gamers they’re as we speak.
Now the costliest English footballer of all time, having joined Arsenal for £105m throughout the summer season, Rice was truly launched by Chelsea aged 14 earlier than becoming a member of West Ham’s academy.
Ahead Nketiah tread the same path as Rice, additionally let go Chelsea at youth stage, however is now on the cusp of being an England worldwide – referred to as up by Gareth Southgate to the senior squad for the primary time forward of England’s conflict with Ukraine this week.
Talking about his journey from Chelsea to now, Nketiah insisted that being let go by a membership at such a younger age helped himself and Rice turn out to be higher gamers.
“It’s humorous how life works generally,” he mentioned. “We’ve performed the total 360 to be again collectively. We had totally different journeys to get right here, however we’re all on the identical path for membership and nation.
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“I feel it did [make me more determined]. I used to be there from the ages of 9 and 14 and it got here as a shock to me as a result of I used to be doing effectively on the time.
“Declan was of that age group as effectively and had the same expertise. I feel it provides you an awakening and simply figuring out that issues can change like that – which you could lose every part you could have labored for.
“It provides you that additional little bit of motivation and resilience when occasions are laborious. I will dig a stage deeper than perhaps some folks can or do not need to go into. It is all a part of the expertise. Some boys won’t have skilled it however then they are going to have had lows of their careers. This was my journey and it has helped me by who I’m as we speak.”
Nketiah is in line to make his England debut throughout the worldwide break, having impressed early on within the 2023/24 season – scoring two key objectives for the Gunners.
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