Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah on hat-tricks, England hopes and home cooking | Football Focus

Eddie, my brother. Nice to see you, man. You too, my guy. Always, always. It's been an amazing season so far for you. Your first Premier League hat-trick, England cap. How's it been for you? I think we've had a good start. I've had a good start myself, played quite a lot of minutes, scored a few goals. And obviously to get that first cap was an amazing feeling, that personally. So, yeah, like I said, I always look forward to trying to achieve more. But we will talk about that hat-trick because I was there. I loved it. You held the ball up. What a celebration. I haven't seen that one before. I thought it was going to be that. Obviously, to get a hat-trick, Premier League hat-trick, not many players get the opportunity to do that. So, it's amazing. And to experience it, like you said, at the stadium with our supporters, my friends, my family, it's a really special moment. And the goal as well to seal the hat-trick. I don't think anyone was expecting that. You're just on a swivel, bang. I've been practising a lot, just in training, in and around the box, outside the box. Just getting strikes off, getting it clean. And I think, not a bad hat-trick, if I say so. Yeah, beautiful. Another milestone that you've achieved recently, that game against Newcastle, it was your 100th hat-trick for the club. Yeah, it's crazy. I think, I didn't know, obviously, until the day of the game when I was told. Obviously, a disappointing result. I would have loved to have capped it with a win. Yeah, no, it's an amazing achievement. Not a lot of people get to play 100 games in the Premier League. Growing up where I grew up, in south-east London, I think, it didn't look very possible when you woke up to get there. But, no, we thank God that I've achieved this milestone. Hopefully, there's many more to come. You don't need to lie, by the way. You knew it was 100, surely? No, I swear, I didn't know, bro. Only until, like, I literally saw, like, on Arsenal Post or something, the day before, like, Ben's about to play 100, and Eddie, I said, oh, my gosh, I didn't even know I played 100 games, bro. Wait, I would have been counting that down for the first game. I was already counting goals, bro. I remember chatting to you, your first England call-up, we talked about what it was like getting that first call-up, the reaction, your family and friends. Now, for your debut, was it a similar dynamic there? It was still finding your friends, your family? I asked for about 20 tickets to the game. I had so many people there, like my friends, family, some of the coaches. From here came some of the coaches that swore to me in the past. It was just a special moment, you know. I think it's hard to kind of explain the feeling, you know. I think when we got back, I got home with my family and we just, like, looked at the cap, it was just like, wow, like, we've actually, you know, achieved a childhood dream, you know, to be at this level. So, it just makes you, for me, it makes me even hungrier to be there and be there consistently and to push and get more caps. A teammate of yours at England, but also at the club now, DEC, how amazing has it been for you two? Quite a similar journey in that, obviously, you were released on, was it the same day? Yeah, same day. From Chelsea, and even though the paths were kind of different, the story is quite similar, you know, breaking through and now being an integral part of, like, a title-challenging team. How much does that mean to you to do that alongside him? Yeah, it's amazing, man. It's amazing. I remember, like, obviously when I heard the rumours and I first saw him, like, speaking about it with my family, like, just saying, like, it's just crazy how life works, you know, like... It is, yeah. As 14-year-olds, 13-, 14-year-olds boys, like, thought your life was over, you know, we all went through different paths, and I hope that, like, motivates people that have had setbacks just to know that, you know, anything is possible, you know. Also, we have a great bond, obviously, I've known him since I was nine years old, so... You're still sharing the jollof on the... Yeah, you know what, too, I need to invite him round for dinner, he needs a re-up. My mum said I need to bring him round, so I'm gonna line it up. I know he's a big fan. Yeah, no, he loves it, to be fair, Dec, and he's a great guy, man. How is that competition with Gabby up front? Because I'm guessing you're both very close. We get on so well off the pitch, me and Gabby, just naturally, he's such a cool guy, a good character as well, and he's an unbelievable player as well, to be fair, so... Yeah, of course, like, at the end of the day, I want to be playing, you know, I believe in myself, I want to help the team and be out there, but... For me, it's just about us both being at the best of our games, like I said, I don't really see it as just me versus you, it's more just about us trying to do what's best for the team, and I just try to do that by doing the right things and taking my opportunity when I can, but if I'm playing or not playing, or he's playing, I'm always gonna support him, and I know he's always gonna support me, so that whoever's playing, they feel comfortable, and we do the business, and that's the most important thing.