Oliver Glasner: ‘Crystal Palace did their homework on Eddie Nketiah before signing from Arsenal’

Eddie Nketiah opened his Crystal Palace account on Tuesday night in their EFL Cup third-round win over Championship side Leicester.

The 25-year-old Lewisham-born forward was starting in the attacking number 10 role alongside Eberechi Eze and behind Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Nketiah, who joined the Eagles on an initial £25million deal with £5m in add-ons from Arsenal, opened the scoring for his new side with an early low drive between the legs of Joe Walsh.

The former Leeds loanee has impressed in his opening two games for the South Londoners.

“You can trust that we did our homework before signing him,” said Glasner.

“When you watch Eddie play at Arsenal, he played as a nine he was very involved in the game.

“He’s not a pivot, like in basketball, who is waiting for the ball. He’s so, so smart in finding the space.

“He can play as a nine, as this 10, and when we switched three days ago to a 4-4-2 against Leicester, he can play around the striker. 

“He has such a good feeling (for the game). Sometimes, he needs to stay in the pocket and then make the run in behind. 

“When Ebs (Eze) put a chip over, he ran in behind. He was waiting for the cutback when Tyrick Mitchell gave him the pass for the second chance. 

“These are different situations, but he has a feeling to make the right decisions.”

PICTURE: ROB AVIS