Former Arsenal striker 'surprises' new manager after £30m summer transfer

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has explained how Eddie Nketiah has 'surprised' him after signing from Arsenal.

Nketiah left the Gunners during the summer transfer window to sign for Palace in a £30million deal. The striker was one of several players to leave the Emirates Stadium during the summer, joining Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith Rowe, Mohamed Elneny and Fabio Vieira (loan) in heading for the exit door.

After sanctioning Nketiah's exit, Arsenal completed the signing of Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea to strengthen their forward options. However, Nketiah's departure means that the Gunners only have Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus as their central striker options.

Glasner confirmed that Nketiah is available to make his debut for Palace against Leicester City on Saturday. The Eagles manager went on to explain what has "surprised" him about the former Arsenal striker following his arrival from North London.

"Like every other player in our squad, we want that they can express themselves and to show their strengths, why they are professional players for Crystal Palace, playing in the Premier League," Glasner told reporters on Friday.

"Eddie [Nketiah] is a very smart player, I could see it from the first training, and very good technically. He has a great finish.

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"We had a friendly game in the international break and he scored two goals, so he has this feeling, maybe you can’t learn as a striker. How to move, where to move, and a great finish.

"But I’m really surprised in a positive way how hard he’s working in training. He’s always one of those guys who is running most in the training session, having the highest intensity in his training, so this is also very, very positive for us, and I’m happy that he’s here."