Crystal Palace: Eddie Nketiah excited by chance to take career in new direction

The end of the international break means the beginning of a new chapter for Eddie Nketiah .

Deadline day brought the curtain down on a nine-year association with Arsenal , as the Lewisham-born striker headed back down south of the river to join Crystal Palace for £25million plus £5m in add-ons.

Nketiah scored five goals in Arsenal's Premier League title tilt last season, but, aged 25, found his career at a crossroads. The hunt for more game time brings him to Palace, and he is in line to make his debut against Leicester on Saturday.

"I'm really excited for my Selhurst debut, and hopefully I can make it one to remember," he said. "I know what it means to be a South Londoner. [Arsenal] was like a home to me, but I think you just want to take that next step in your career.

"Crystal Palace is a wonderful place. I want to improve, play more minutes, and hopefully help the team as much as I can."

One thing is for sure: those minutes will come.

Familiar faces return to Selhurst Park on Saturday, with Jordan Ayew and Odsonne Edouard (on loan) having both left Palace to join the Foxes last month.

Nketiah and Jean-Philippe Mateta are Palace's only out-and-out strikers and it feels more likely that Oliver Glasner will persist with his 3-4-2-1 system than start both of them.

Admittedly, Mateta will be difficult to oust from the starting XI, but Nketiah will believe a flurry of goals this season can catapult him back into the frame for England, having won his one cap last October.

"I just feel it's a very good move for him and a move he had to make," said former Arsenal, Palace and England striker Ian Wright.

The league table makes for unpleasant viewing for Glasner, whose side sit 16th with one point from a possible nine. The summer optimism after a superb end to last season has yet to translate into reward.

However, it is still very early days and Palace can reap the benefits of holding on to Marc Guehi.

The strength shown by the board not to drop their valuation amid Newcastle's pursuit paid off. While Guehi – one of England's best defenders — has designs on playing for a bigger club, he is not the type to now down tools, having just been made captain.

Meanwhile, Eberechi Eze showed shades of his guile at Stamford Bridge before the international break, his marvellous strike getting Palace off the mark for the season with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea. Fresh from England duty, he is key to the Eagles' hopes of beating Leicester.

And summer recruits Daichi Kamada and Ismaila Sarr are gradually getting up to speed.

Yet surely most exciting of all for Palace supporters is that Adam Wharton and Cheick Doucoure are approaching their first game starting together in a double pivot.

Doucoure is fit but has not started a League game since snapping an Achilles tendon last November. Wharton, who has been taking painkillers to get through games, will be assessed ahead of Leicester after dropping out of the England Under-21 squad with a groin problem. Time for Palace to kickstart their season.

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