Eddie Nketiah has discussed his start to life with Leeds United on loan, after three goals in just 197 minutes for his new side.
Nketiah has scored in three of his four senior appearances (plus once in his only u23 appearance) for Leeds since his loan was made official earlier this month. That includes a goal in each of his two starts so far.
The striker couldn’t really have hoped to make a better impression on the fans, though he’ll be pushing Marcelo Bielsa to give him his first Championship start soon. Nketiah told the Leeds website the supporters have welcomed him with open arms.
“The Leeds fans are crazy, they are great,” Nketiah said. “That has been a big part of enjoying my time here, with how quick they have taken to me.
“Even when I was deciding to sign here, the support I was getting from the fans in the media was great. I’m delighted for them to take to me so early, I’m going to continue to give my all and try to do well, so hopefully, they will appreciate that.”
Nketiah admitted it’s been good to get involved in the goals so early, to take a bit of the pressure off. Nonetheless, he believes he’s yet to show his best performances in a Leeds shirt.
“It’s been nice to get the goals out of the way so early and hopefully that will continue.
“I’m adjusting and settling into the team well, I am sure there will be a lot better performances than the ones I have shown so far, I think I can keep building, growing and improving and I’m excited for the future.
“I want to play well and work hard for the team, the team create a lot of chances here and I just try to get in good positions and I’m confident if I do play that I will always get chances and I work hard on my finishing every day to get more goals.”
It’s certainly important for Nketiah to keep carrying the mentality that he has to be improving all season. There’s no point him going on loan to score a few goals and then rest on his laurels.
Even when the goals dry up at points during the season, as they do with any striker, Nketiah has to keep his head down and keep working to improve. If he does that, he’ll return a better player with a better chance of making the Arsenal first team.
You can watch all of Nketiah’s goals so far here. Keep an eye on Leeds vs Swansea at 15:00 BST on Saturday to see if he can bag another.