Arsenal: What does the purchase of Nicolas Pepe mean for Reiss Nelson?

Arsenal have reportedly had a massive bid accept for Lille’s superstar winger, Nicolas Pepe. What would the signing of the Ivorian mean for Reiss Nelson?

At the beginning of the summer, prior to Arsenal‘s pre-season tour of the United States beginning, many were under the impression that Reiss Nelson would be a key figure in the first team for the 2019-2020 season. However, there has been a few happenings in particular that have seemingly dashed Nelson’s hopes of being a starter next year.

First of all, the somewhat underwhelming performances of Nelson throughout the tour left many shocked and very disappointed. The young Englishman was expected to hit the ground running once he joined up with the senior squad, but he was instead outshined by some of his fellow youth academy products.

Joe WIllock and Eddie Nketiah had particularly impressive performances throughout the tour that accentuated the mediocrity of Nelson’s. Despite poor performances, this is certainly not the most worrying factor when it comes to the 19-year-old’s game time, though.

The reported agreement between Lille and Arsenal for the signature of Nicolas Pepe undoubtedly worries Nelson heavily. But does the signing of Pepe spell the end for Nelson’s game time? What does the signing of Pepe mean for him?

One can safely assume it will not spell the end for Nelson. He is seemingly somebody that the team value highly and they appear to have trust in his potential.  However, it is certain that the signing of the 24-year-old Ivorian will definitely negatively impact his game time.

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The youngster should certainly not take Pepe “hijacking” his game time as an insult though. The 24-year-old had an absolutely phenomenal season last year, scoring 22 goals and bagging 11 assists. Furthermore, he was an integral component to Lille securing second place in Ligue 1 and obtaining Champions League football.

Nelson did have an impressive loan period at Hoffenheim last season, scoring seven goals. As a young player that is a truly impressive season, but Pepe is for the here and now. The board would not show interest in Pepe for a reported £72m if they did not believe he would drastically improve the team as a whole. Arsenal are in dire need of a goal scoring winger, and with all due respect to Reiss Nelson, it does not appear as if the 19-year-old Englishman is quite ready to pick up a role that heavy.

Pepe coming in should not spell the end for a player of Nelson’s potential and if it does, maybe he is not as good as us Arsenal fans make him out to be. The fact of the matter is that the prolific Ivorian coming into the club should help Nelson. Seeing a player of Pepe’s skill week in and week out in training will do nothing but benefit the highly-thought-of youngster.

Nothing is set in stone in regards to Nicolas Pepe, however a deal looks likely. If the club do manage to bring him in, it should by no means spell the end of Nelson. It may even commence the beginning.