Arsenal and Reiss Nelson: What options are there?

Arsenal rolled out the red carpet for Reiss Nelson on his return from Hoffenheim, but where do they turn now, with how the situation has developed?

Hoffenheim was the perfect loan for Reiss Nelson. After scoring six goals and shooting up the Bundesliga scoring charts, Nelson proceeded to falter and fade, he got into trouble, he grew and matured. It was like the entire life of a footballer all rolled into one year. He was ready for Arsenal. All throughout the loan, he kept saying his eyes were on returning to the Emirates.

As such, the Gunners opted to buy just one winger—Nicolas Pepe—and left the other slot wide open for Nelson as formations would allow.

It was immediately clear that he wasn’t ready. He was physically weak, far too easy to shove off the ball, and didn’t have the end product that we expected to see given the trajectory he had in Germany.

Then he got hurt. And in his stead, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, who are both younger than Nelson, proved to be Premier League ready like… right now.

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And they still are. And as midweek fixtures continue to be a part of the Gunners’ schedules, Saka and Martinelli are finding plenty of time, as is Pepe, who continues to struggle, but who shows signs of turning things around.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has even made returns to right wing, and Emile Smith Rowe is just waiting for his chance to get back into the picture.

Where does that leave Reiss Nelson? He was top of the pile to start the year. He was the senior presence, comparatively speaking, and he had the early opportunity, only to see it fall away incredibly quickly before that injury and now you can’t find him anywhere. Not in the U21s, not coming on as a sub. He’s just there, in training. Looking forward to what exactly?

He isn’t just up against Pepe anymore. He’s up against players younger and more prepared for life in the top flight than he is. That’s not a good situation to be in, and it’s troubling. Did he get worse, or were we severely overrating him? Or, for the optimist out there, is it just a matter of him getting his confidence back?

It’s not even likely he will start midweek fixtures, what with Pepe and Saka and Martinelli all higher up in the pecking order. That means that it’ll be substitute duties of midweek matches that serve as the staging grounds for Nelson to work his way back into the picture. If nothing else, it’ll certainly build character.