Arsenal have rejected a £25 million offer for Nottingham Forest striker Eddie Nketiah, The Pitch Prospect has learned.
The 25-year-old was made available for purchase after falling down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta.
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At the Emirates, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are preferred to the English international with only one cap.
Nketiah, who is tied to north London until 2027, started as a substitute on the bench in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Wolves on matchday one but did not play.
His future was uncertain all summer as the Gunners rejected several offers from French giants Marseille for his services.
A £17m bid from Roberto De Zerbi’s team was rejected last month, as was another £23m bid.
Bournemouth were reportedly interested in signing the striker as a replacement for Dominic Solanke, but then signed Evanilson from Porto instead.
And now Forest has tried its luck at getting Nketiah and made him their top target.
Despite an offer of £25 million plus add-ons being rejected, negotiations between Arsenal and the East Midlands team are continuing.
Earlier this summer, The Pitch Prospect revealed that Arsenal valued the Hale End graduate at a whopping £50 million.
However, they were now forced to lower their demands because there was no one who was interested in them.
It is believed that the Premier League title contenders will now demand a transfer fee in the range of £30-35 million.
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Forest are also eyeing Feyenoord’s Santiago Gomez as an option up front to compete with Taiwo Awoniyi and Chris Wood.
However, Steve Cooper has identified Nketiah as their top priority.
Nketiah made his breakthrough into Arsenal’s first team under Arsene Wenger in the 2017/18 season.
In 168 games in all competitions, he scored 38 goals.
But he hasn’t scored a goal since December 2023, when he scored in a 1-1 draw away at PSV in the Champions League.
In addition, it has been almost a year since he last scored a goal in the Premier League, scoring a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Sheffield United in October 2023.