The 20-year-old forward has been catching the eye in pre-season, leading Unai Emery to comment on his future, but a summer switch could still happen

Eddie Nketiah has not closed the door on a loan move away from Arsenal despite Unai Emery trying to slam it shut.

The Gunners boss has expressed a desire to keep a highly-rated forward on his books for the 2019-20 campaign.

Nketiah has been catching the eye for Arsenal in pre-season, netting three goals across two games in the International Champions Cup.

An Emirates Stadium academy graduate has suggested that he could be a useful support option to Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Spells elsewhere have, however, been mooted in the recent past, with there need to get regular minutes into an exciting prospect, and nothing is being ruled out with the window still open.

Nketiah has said in The Mirror: “There was talk of [going out on loan] and it was close to happening in January but the club decided that I should stay and I tried to finish the season as strongly as possible.

“We’ll see what happens in the future but I’m just enjoying the tour and in the future decisions will be made.

“All I can do is do what I’m doing at the moment, work hard in training, work hard on the pitch, and scoring at the moment. I need to keep pushing, keep working and as for the season I want to be playing regularly.

“After the pre-season tour, it’s something that I’ll look at with my family and speak to the manager and see what’s best for me.

“I feel like I have a great relationship with the fans. It’s nice that they notice that and sing my name. That’s a dream come true. Even out here the fans are screaming my name.

“They travel all around the world to see us play and support us. I always try to give them something back and I’m so grateful that they have taken to me like that as one of the boys from the academy and I hope it can continue.”

Arsenal boss Emery had previously said when quizzed on his plans for Nketiah’s immediate future: “Last year in small moments when we could give him chances to be on the pitch he did very well. His progress can confirm, we want progress with every player.

“He has a very good attitude and they need experience, minutes and confidence. The young energy is very important. 

“Nketiah was playing very well. Last year, in December we were thinking of loaning or not loaning the player to Germany and we decided he should stay with us to train and progress with us. 

“We started this preseason with the same idea as we finished last year. He’ll stay with us and my idea is that if you progress like we are seeing from you, you can have a chance with us.”

Nketiah has taken in 19 competitive appearances for Arsenal to date, recording three goals.

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