Eddie Nketiah has been called up for Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad for the September internationals, along with three other Arsenal players.

Gareth Southgate named his latest England squad for the September international break on Thursday, and Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah was a somewhat surprising inclusion in the group.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Aaron Ramsdale are all mainstays of the England squad, so it was no surprise to see the trio called up again, though there was no spot for Ben White on this occasion.

But 24-year-old Nketiah has never featured in a senior England camp before, despite holding the record as the England u21s’ record goalscorer. This is his first call-up, and a call-up he might feel is a bit overdue.

“We’d like to have a look at him,” Southgate said of Nketiah in his press conference. “He’s a young player with a really good pedigree. Very good finisher. It’s good for him to have some time with us.

“He’s, I think, record goalscorer with the [England] u21s as well. So he’s not had the chance to work with us up to this point, he’s a player that we’re really interested in.”

The timing certainly seems to be right, with Nketiah starting the season so strongly.

The striker scored against Nottingham Forest and Fulham in Arsenal’s opening three games of the season, and he won a penalty for Arsenal’s only goal against Crystal Palace.

There’s plenty of competition up front, with Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, and Newcastle United’s Callum Wilson all involved in the squad.

But Nketiah will hope he gets a chance to show what he can do, perhaps in the friendly match against Scotland. He’s rarely disappointed when given an opportunity by England before, throughout his youth development.

England face Ukraine in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Saturday, September 9th at 17:00 BST, then Scotland in a friendly on Tuesday, September 12th at 19:45 BST.