Does Reiss Nelson still have a future at Arsenal?

The Hale End Academy at Arsenal has produced some top-class youngsters in the last few years. They’ve gone from promising prospects to first-team regulars, and in some cases have become the very lifeblood by which this team functions. Looking at you, Bukayo.

Saka, of course, is the operative example, the name on everybody’s lips, but behind him comes Emile “£35m” Smith Rowe, and Folarin Balogun, who just signed a new long-term deal at London Colney, not to mention the talents of Eddie Nketiah, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and Joe Willock, of Newcastle fame. And yet, before any of them arrived on the centre stage of football at Arsenal, there was Reiss Nelson.

Though he’s not the oldest of the bunch, at 21 – Maitland-Niles is 23, Nketiah is 22, and Willock is 112 days older – Nelson debuted in the 2017/18 season along with all of the latter, making eight starts over 17 appearances, and earning immediate comparisons to Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with his speedy, direct style, and preference to conduct operations from the right wing.

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He earned himself a loan move to Hoffenheim in 2018/19, scoring seven and assisting one in his first seven games, and making 23 appearances overall. Though injuries and poor form disrupted the end of his season there, he still came out smiling, and with an extra slice of experience to help build his case to integrate into the Premier League squad, rather than making his mark in the PL2.

Does Reiss Nelson still have a future at Arsenal? Premier League clubs are eyeing his signature with just 12 months left on his contract

Unfortunately, his case has pulled a Dele Alli, and completely disappeared. Though he made seven starts over 17 matches played in the 2019/20 league season, he failed to make a true impact, with the exception of a barnstorming performance against Liverpool during Project Restart. His 2020/21 campaign was even worse, with another string of injuries and benchings hampering him to minimal on-field showings.

And worse still, he has fallen behind in his progression, especially alongside other former Hale End starlets. Among the names mentioned previously – Saka, Smith Rowe, Willock, Maitland-Niles, Nketiah, Balogun – Nelson is the least likely to make a meaningful impact on the squad. So the question remains.

Does Reiss Nelson have a future at Arsenal?

It’s a difficult question. On one hand, this squad still lacks a player of his true profile. Speedy, decisive, a chalk-on-your-boots style winger. In a world of inverted forwards and cutting inside, Nelson is a breath of fresh air; a more traditional prospect that will get football purists slavering over his ability.

Pépé, Smith Rowe, and Saka, who are our three best wingers, all prefer to cut inside onto their stronger feet, an incredibly effective move for goalscoring, but one that tends to jam up an Arsenal attack that tends to get bogged down around the area. Gabriel Martinelli, too, features best of the left flank, despite his eventual progression to a central role. Arsenal are a squad bereft of vertical movement, and Nelson provides it.

Furthermore, he has the energy and verve to function within a high-octane, counter-pressing attack, a key tool of the tactics Arteta is still trying to implement, with mixed success so far. Many have suggested that Nelson could provide that impetus to the squad, if given a chance to perform consistently, while healthy.

But will he get that chance?

Nelson looked primed for a turn of fortune after Project Restart, when, nearly out of the blue, Arsenal signed Willian. Despite the Brazilian’s shambolic season in red-and-white, Arteta clearly prefers his veteran experience to the still-raw Nelson. In terms of a pecking order, the 21-year-old Englishman looks to be…s**t out of luck.

He will not start much on the right flank, not above Saka, nor above Pépé, and likely not above Willian either. The same applies to the left flank, which is dominated by the aforementioned wingers, not to mention Smith Rowe and Martinelli. And without the Europa League to force rotation, his best chances would come in the FA and League Cups, were he to remain at the club.

Is that what the player wants? I’d hazard a guess at no. Though he is only 21, he has been on the verge of breaking through to the first team for nigh on five years now, and still hasn’t managed to establish a solid foothold. His youth is at once his greatest asset and his biggest drawback.

Continued…