Arsenal: Reiss Nelson injury has long-lasting ramifications

Arsenal prospect Reiss Nelson is expected to be out until November with a knee injury. While it is a short-term absence, the injury could have long-lasting ramifications.

Injuries happen. They are a part of playing sport. Even at the amateur level, injuries are a part and parcel of the game. Sadly, there is not much that can be done, other than to best protect your body in preparation for them.

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Naturally, it is the extended absences and more gruesome injuries that tend to gain the majority of the coverage. But sometimes, it can be the smaller, nigglier injuries that have a longer-lasting impact on players and their development.

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That may sound a little curious. How can a hamstring pull be more damaging than an ACL tear? And from a purely physiological perspective, it obviously is not. But from a footballing angle, there are difficulties that come with the little niggles that are often not considered.

Let me use Arsenal prospect Reiss Nelson as an example.

Nelson is reportedly set to miss the next few weeks with a knee injury. According to the London Evening Standard, he will be out of action until November after withdrawing from the England under-21 squad this week. The injury, in and of itself, is not massively concerning, unless if it starts to linger beyond the anticipated timeframe. But the impact it could have is.

Nelson has already seen his place in the starting XI diminish. First, Nicolas Pepe was inevitably ushered into the side. But then, in a more surprising twist, 18-year-old Bukayo Saka seemingly usurped Nelson in the wing pecking order. Saka impressed greatly in a Europa League win over Eintracht Frankfurt before going on to make three successive Premier League starts. He has played well in all of them and is now very much seen as a superior option to Nelson.

In addition to this, Nelson was dropped from the 18-man matchday squad against Bournemouth altogether at the weekend, Gabriel Martinelli used from off the bench instead after his four goals in two starts. Suddenly, Nelson is slipping out of Unai Emery’s thinking quite substantially. So while Nelson is spending his time on the physio table and rehabbing from this knee injury, Saka and Martinelli will be playing in training and starting matches, looking to further impress Emery. They now have the opportunity to distance themselves from Nelson in the pecking order.

Moreover, Nelson was just beginning to round into form. After a tough start to the year, he performed excellently against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup and then Standard Liege in the Europa League. It would have been nice to see him build on those positive performances. And now he can’t.

There is obviously a long way to go in this season and Nelson will have plenty of time to recover and star once more. And it is certainly relieving that he does not have a serious injury and just a niggling knee issue. But this seemingly small problem can still have long-lasting ramifications. Sadly, it happens.