West Ham striker Michail Antonio has expressed his surprise at the impact that Eddie Nketiah has had with Arsenal.

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: Eddie Nketiah of Arsenel celebrates after scoring his sides third goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on December 26, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 26: Eddie Nketiah of Arsenel celebrates after scoring his sides third goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on December 26, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Eddie Nketiah has stepped up in the absence of the injured Gabriel Jesus and started six consecutive league games for the Gunners.

Despite initial concerns about his ability to lead the team in their Premier League title push, Nketiah has exceeded expectations and scored six goals in the process.

“The way he played against us – urgh. He surprised me. He surprised me! He was dropping in deep, picking it up, he rolled a couple of our defenders to score his goal. He was quality,” Michail Antonio said in an interview with The Footballer’s Football Podcast.

He also commented on how impressed he was with Nketiah’s performances in multiple games.

“From that moment I have watched him and he’s been doing it in so many games. He’s a great striker, and I’m happy for him. A young boy coming up, he’s showing what he can do.

“You don’t always have to go and spend money, you can see that sometimes in your academy you can bring boys up and they can do it.”

On the face of it, Nketiah’s 32 goals in 118 games doesn’t read like a prolific striker. But when you look at the minutes he’s played, you realise that he averages a goal every 159 minutes, despite only averaging 43 minutes per game across his Arsenal career.

This season, Nketiah has scored a goal every 147 minutes in the league despite only averaging 35 minutes per game.