Arsenal: This is the Reiss Nelson the Gunners need

Reiss Nelson looked back to his sharpest, most direct best in Sunday’s defeat to Lyon. This is the version of Reiss Nelson that Arsenal need this summer.

There was not one player in the Arsenal squad that I was more excited to watch during this summer’s pre-season than Reiss Nelson. There are plenty of young players coming through into the first team at present, but of all of them, Nelson is the one that I felt could truly develop into a superstar.

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The now 19-year-old has the perfect make-up of a modern-day winger. Exceptionally quick, with and without the ball, terrifically agile and skilful, an excellent dribbler, especially in one-on-ones, and proven to be productive throughout his career, he is a wrecking ball of a player as he sears in from either flank.

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However, upon his return from a tumultuous season-long loan at Hoffenheim, Nelson did not quite light up the United States tour as some of his fellow academy products did. While Eddie Nketiah was top scoring and Joe Willock was dominating the central midfield, Nelson largely sat on the bench, waiting patiently for his opportunity. And that did not come, not properly, anyway, until this Sunday, when Arsenal played Lyon in the Emirates Cup.

Even then, his chance to flourish was handed to him somewhat fortuitously. Alexandre Lacazette hobbled off early, Unai Emery acting extremely cautiously, not wanting to injure last year’s Player of the Season. Nelson made his introduction. And boy did he make it count.

Nelson was exactly as advertised: direct, quick, purposeful, an injection of pace and precision, a willingness to take on defenders, shoot from distance, whip crosses into the penalty area. This was the Nelson that I wanted to see all summer, and it is the Nelson that I am eager to see throughout the upcoming season.

So far this summer, Henrikh Mkhitaryan has played a worrying amount, the Armenian seemingly still a member of Emery’s plans. I would much rather see him sold and the pacier Nelson be given the chance to start on a more regular basis. Not only is Nelson more useful to Arsenal in the present, his speed and dribbling ability making a unique threat, but he has a far greater potential than Mkhitaryan.

At 30 years of age, Mkhitaryan is not really going to improve. He is who he is. Nelson is just at the start of his career, just beginning to understand his game, to master his position, and to break into the first team. Why not now entrust a greater responsibility to him?

The Nelson against Lyon is the Nelson that I have been waiting all summer to see. He is also the Nelson that Arsenal need next season. By playing like that, both the team and his development are better for it. Long may his excellent performance continue.