Arsenal: 5 players facing dangerous transfer positions

3 + 4. Eddie Nketiah & Reiss Nelson

Signed: Both joined academy
Fee: Free

Eddie Nketiah’s month-long ankle injury files neatly into the ‘inconvenient’ folder.

It won’t entirely derail Arsenal’s hopes of shifting him on this summer but it does heighten the chances of this deal being left until the very late stages of the window, which always adds unnecessary risk.

The major issue is that Nketiah has to go this window. Having turned down a new contract, he sees his permanent future away from north London and a loan move only to return and potentially be sold elsewhere is not the career stability a 22-year-old wants to be dealing with.

There are suitors though, which is reassuring, with Brighton the standout candidates so far. Crystal Palace and West Ham have also been linked over the summer.

Any eventuality where the window closes with Nketiah still on the books is catastrophic. He must be shifted to avoid what could be an exemption from the Premier League squad entirely, what with Folarin Balogun now a senior member.

As for Reiss Nelson, the interest in him is very much ‘try before you buy’ which is not only limiting his option due to Arsenal not sanctioning a loan for a player with one year left, but also risking an unfortunate scenario come the deadline.

For Nelson, his best bet is to accept the contract offer, go out on loan for a season and then have performed enough to entice genuine bidders come 2022. Will that happen? It kind of has to or else he’s playing Under-23 football again.