Arsenal manager Unai Emery has suggested that Bristol City target Eddie Nketiah could stay at the Premier League club this season. 

Lee Johnson has hinted that wants to bring in at least one more attacking option this summer and Nketiah has been linked with making the switch to Ashton Gate.

The Sun has reported that the Gunners were planning to send the striker out on loan and that City were top of the list of possible destinations.

Following Emery's recent comments, however, it seems there is a chance Nketiah may be staying put.

The 20-year-old scored a late winner in Arsenal's 2-1 pre-season victory over Bayern Munich and speaking after the game the Spanish coach suggested the forward could fight his way into his plans.

According to the Bristol Post, he said: "Our responsibility in this club for the history, present, and future is to give young players a chance.

"If they deserve minutes they'll get minutes. I’m very happy with them and their work.

"For them, it's important that each match and each training they give us their performance and energy. We have the responsibility with the young players to give them chances.

"We want to use different young players to help. Some players will be with us in pre-season, some players will be with us in the season."

"Each minute they show their performance against big players. For example, the one-to-one [Eddie] Nketiah against [Niklas] Sule showed how he can respond. Today was very positive.

"We need them for the moment but also in the future."

The Verdict

Emery's comments suggest he has been impressed by the young striker and that he may be considering utilising him in the first team this season.

That would be a blow for City as signing Nketiah could have been a great bit of business.

The 20-year-old looks a talented goalscorer, having grabbed three goals in 19 appearances for the Arsenal first team and impressed when given the chance last season.

With his pace and skilful dribbling style, Nketiah is different from any of the strikers currently available to Johnson and could be a great addition to his squad.

City have had good past experiences with loan moves for young strikers, with Tammy Abraham scoring 26 goals in the 2016/17 season, and the Robins will be hoping that the England under-21s forward can have similar success.