Arsenal calm over Nketiah's Leeds frustration - Emery

Unai Emery says now is not the time to consider recalling Eddie Nektiah from his loan spell at Leeds.

The Arsenal striker moved to the Championship promotion hopefuls in the summer, agreeing to spend the season at Elland Road.

But his game time has been somewhat limited since the start of the campaign, with Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa preferring to start with Patrick Bamford.

Nketiah has yet to start in the Championship since his move and after scoring a hat-trick for England Under-21s against Austria in midweek, the young frontman voiced his displeasure at his lack of game time.

"It's been disappointing for me not to start in the league,” he said. “I went there to play games and get games.

“It's still early times. I think every time I've come on a done well and shown why I think I should be playing, I think tonight was a good statement and a good way for me to put across a performance and hopefully I'll be starting in the next run of games.

"I'm looking to push on, I went there to play and I think I believe I'm good enough to be playing in the team. I want to kick on when I get back and hopefully get a run of games.

"I feel like I probably haven't been given the chances I would have liked, I would have liked to pay a lot more minutes but I feel like every time I come on I've done well and now I'm still one of the top scorers, if not the top scorer in the team.”

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Since making the move to Elland Road, Nketiah has found the net four times in nine appearances in all competitions.

But just two of those have been starts and it has led to suggestions that Arsenal will consider activating a break clause in their deal with Leeds and calling the forward back in January.

Emery admits that he would have preferred to see Nketiah starting more, but the Spaniard believes it is too early to start talking about bringing the academy product back to the Emirates.

“Now is not the moment, we are in October,” said Arsenal’s head coach. “He is in Leeds and I respect the coach and his decision.

“I think he [Nketiah] is going to play more because he is going to deserve it.

“Each match he is playing with his national team, with Leeds, I think is very important for him and also for Arsenal because our way with him is to give him the possibility of going on loan to play, to take confidence and experience to use in the future for us.

“He is maybe playing less than we want, but I’m sure that he is going to play more.”