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At a time when Chelsea youth suddenly have access to sudden opportunities, the Blues recalls the one who escaped.
Before Eddie Nketiah became one of the most exciting young stars of Arsenal, he was an unwanted striker from Chelsea who was dropped at the age of 14.
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Six years later, Nketiah showed what was missing at the West London club, having been the undisputed star of the Gunners pre-season.
His last winner against Bayern Munich was the latest breakthrough of a rapid rise. Substitute Nketiah only had eight minutes on the field, but was named man of the match.
Chelsea quickly becomes a distant memory.
"I started at Hilliford, it was a local club in the under 9s, and then I joined Chelsea at the end of this season," said Nketiah, 20, at Arsenal .com last year.
"I was there until I was 14. I was released and informed that I was not getting a contract." One week later, Ian Gilmour, Charlie's father, spotted me .
LADDON LAD
"At the time, he was a scout for Arsenal and he brought me down a week later, once signed."
Nketiah may have been nurtured by gunners, but he was trained on the streets of Lewisham in south-east London.
Nketiah, the English star under 21, was born to Ghanaian parents. She learned to play football on the streets.
And it is not surprising that he is able to fight against the best, having spent all his childhood playing football in a cage.
"It was really hard to play in the cage, there is a lot of pride there and everyone wants to show how good they are and what they can do," he said. he declares.
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"There is no security in the area, so you have to fend for yourself, if you are attacked, you just have to get up and there is no fault.
"There are a lot of trashy discussions in the cage and you just have to have thick skin to get through and show how good you are."
That's exactly what Nketiah achieved in 2017, at the age of 18, by appealing to the first Arsene Wenger team.
He made his debut as a late substitute in BATE Borisov's Europa League win and the next appearance was against Norwich in the League Cup a month later.
It was at this time that the name of Nketiah was widely recognized by the faithful of the Emirates, while he left the bench of substitutes and scored a tying goal within 15 seconds.
GUNNER IS A STAR
He followed with a late dramatic winner.
"Many people think that it only took me 15 seconds to score for Arsenal, but I've been working on it for my entire life," Nketiah said.
And despite Wenger's departure last summer, his successor, Unai Emery, was also impressed.
The promotion of Freddie Ljungberg as badistant coach of the first team, after being director of the academy, will have contributed to this.
Ljungberg once said of Nketiah: "He is a great football player, he runs constantly and I could not be happier for him."
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With tight purse strings in the UAE, young people now have a chance to flourish.
Nketiah may well be loaned this season to gain experience.
But after seeing what Chelsea has missed, Arsenal will ensure that they do not make the same mistake with their Ed Boy.
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