Who is Edouard Nketiah?

Arsenal are on the brink of elimination at home to Norwich City in the Carabao Cup, and it looks like Arsène Wenger's hopes of another trophy will be dashed again, although Wenger doesn't take it very seriously.

But the emergence of youngster Nketiah changed all that, and of course, there was Tan Xibi, who came off the bench and was almost a month younger than Nketiah.

The latter came on to ensure Arsenal were comfortable attacking their opponents, while the 18-year-old, who scored with his first touch of the pitch, pulled the Gunners back from the cliff and kept their hopes of progression alive.

"There could be a blowout of Arsenal's academy this season." That's what the media people who watched the game thought.

Matt Messi in 1994, Rob Holding in 1995, Ainsley Maitland Niles in 1997, Alexander Iwobi in 1996, Chuba Akpeng in 1995, Tan Xibi and Nketiah in 1999 and Joey Willock who came off the bench in extra-time and Joshua da Silva in 1998.

On the bench, there are also Ben Schiff (1998), Jordi Osay-Tutu (1998), Dejan Iliyev (1995) who are waiting for their chance.

Despite an equaliser from Eddie Nketiah's goal and plenty of chances in the final minutes, Arsenal were able to draw within 90 minutes and go into extra time.

It was Eddie Nketiah again, who failed to shoot from Akpeng and Theo Walcott and then scored again in the 96th minute from a corner by Jack Wilshere, a header that not only helped Arsenal reach the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, but also became only the second player to score for the Gunners after Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996.

Oh, and to add, the first is Tan Xibi, who set this new record by scoring the world wave at Goodison Park.

If Nketiah, who rose to fame in this battle, is a sharp spear, then Tan Xibi is the shield of the arsenal, and the two are regarded as the future of Arsenal by gunners fans and expert journalists.

Why is Nketiah so highly rated? Even some optimistic Arsenal fans will compare him to club legend Thierry Henry?

It could be that every speedy striker who can play wide will be treated like this, although Nketiah's style is different from Thierry Henry's, and the 18-year-old will be in the right place at the right time, waiting for that chance to be surprised.

In other words, he's more of a "fox in the forbidden area" like Francis Jefferson, but he has the potential to be comparable to the king of Highbury.

Nketiah was actually a Chelsea academy outcast, having been dropped by the Blues' Academy coach in 2015 due to his lack of physical fitness.

Leaving the Chelsea Academy, Arsenal quickly arranged a week-long trial for him and soon impressed the team manager with his talent, with the Gunners offering him a youth contract.

Arsene Wenger, who has a knack for developing young talent, said: 'I don't know what happened to Nketiah at Chelsea, but at Arsenal he was able to score. ”

Arsene Wenger's vision proved proven, and Eddie Nketiah quickly established himself in the Under-18s, scoring 24 goals in his debut season as the team's top scorer and making appearances for Arsenal's Under-23s before the end of the season.

Nketiah signed his first professional contract with Arsenal last summer and, perhaps because of the importance of the team, Nketiah scored 15 goals in 16 appearances in his second season, in addition to three goals in four Arsenal Under-19 appearances and six goals in 13 games for the Under-23s.

In the Under-23s clash with Leicester City, Nketiah also scored a hat-trick.

Nketiah then took part in the Asian pre-season campaign, where he earned a place in the first team thanks to his impressive performances.

In the Europa League against Borisov, Nketiah came off the bench late to make his senior debut.

In terms of international teams, Nketiah has scored a hat-trick in England's youth teams in two different age groups this year alone.

In his first game for England's Under-18s, he scored against Saudi Arabia. In the subsequent match against Qatar, he scored a hat-trick.

It didn't take long for Nketiah to be called up to England's Under-19s and he cemented his place with another hat-trick, this time in a 7-1 thrashing of Poland.

Speaking after the game, Arsene Wenger said: "Nketiah was with us in pre-season, so I know what he can bring to the team. He's going to score goals for us, I'm well aware of his quality, but it's another thing to step up when the team needs it. And I know he's a player with personality, he's got a keen sense of crossing, he's got a good sense of opportunity. ”

For a through ball by Tan Xibi in extra time, Nketiah overtook the Norwich defender, ran with the ball to the penalty area and hit the goal at a small angle and was saved, the connection between the two, Wenger said with a smile: "Although they are working together for the first time, you can see the tacit understanding between the two." For some reason, Wall is already firmly established in the first team, but I'm sure it won't be long before Nketiah is a regular feature in the starting line-up. ”

Coming off the bench, he scored twice to help Arsenal win the opponent, Nketiah won the best player of the match, and the reporters found that after the post-match interview, Tan Xibi pulled Nketiah away, causing them to have various associations.

"Come on, come on, at this level, to be on the list, it's early." Tan Xibi hooked his index finger at Nketiah, who was gritting his teeth.

"Hahaha......" The surrounding teammates let out a burst of laughter, only the coaches kept shaking their heads and smiling bitterly.

Seeing that Nketiah kept breaking through Tan Xibi with the ball, but hit a wall everywhere, Wenger, who came to the training ground, asked Steve Boulder curiously: "What are the two of them doing?" ”

Boulder smiled wryly: "Wall said that as long as Edward can pass him, he will be eligible to enter the tournament squad." ”

Wenger was stunned, no, it seems that he was the one who decided the squad. Wall wasn't fooling Edward, was he? This kid is too innocent.

Doesn't he know that the frontcourt players of the first team, whether it is Alex Sanchez, who has first-class dribbling skills, Theo Walcott, who is speedy, or even Oliver Giroud, who is power, and Alexandre Lacazette, who is technical, cannot take advantage of Tan Xibi at all?

This is a headache for even Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Arsene Wenger amusedly watched Nketiah fall and get back up again, and his unyielding temper deserves to be commended.

Suddenly, Tan Xibi fell to the ground without warning, Wenger's heart jumped, and a bad premonition arose.