Arsenal only have themselves to blame for making Reiss Nelson untradeable

In recent times, Arsenal as a club have become pretty much better at everything. On the pitch, while many remain frustrated at the lack of silverware, Mikel Arteta has improved results exponentially, now simply needing the titles to show for it.

In the transfer market, huge amounts of money were spent on flops including Nicolas Pépé, Shkodran Mustafi and others beforehand. Now though, pretty much every big-money arrival makes a masive impact, including Declan Rice, Jurriën Timber, Martín Zubimendi and many more.

However, one area in which the Gunners still find themselves along way behind their rivals is selling.

Arsenal's most-expensive sales of all-time

Amazingly, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Folarin Balogun remain Arsenal's most expensive sales of all-time, while departures from over a quarter of a century ago also feature in the top 12. So, how does that compare to the Gunners traditional domestic rivals?

Big 6 Premier League clubs: Player sales of £30m+

• Arsenal: 2.

• Chelsea: 23.

• Tottenham Hotspur: 6.

• Liverpool: 8.

• Manchester City: 11.

• Manchester United: 6.

Put succinctly, Arsenal need to improve in the transfer market when it comes to selling one unwanted assets. Well, one player currently on their books is proving impossible to sell.

The Hale Ender Arsenal cannot fetch a big fee for

Hale End, Arsenal's academy, continues to be one of the biggest talent factories in Europe, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jack Wilshere, Ashley Cole and many more are just some of the 21st century examples. However, when he was coming through the ranks, few were as talented and highly-rated as Reiss Nelson.

He won Premier League 2 with the Gunners, as well as representing England at various youth levels, before his senior club debut during the 2017 Community Shield win over Chelsea at Wembley. He was forecast to be the club's next great star, essentially what Saka is right now, but this has not transpired. After returning following a loan spell at Feyenoord, Arteta described him as a "special talent", adding "we’ve seen something in Reiss that is special".

In the summer of 2023, having been a useful squad player, memorably scoring that winner against Bournemouth, Nelson signed a new four-year contract, reportedly earning a whopping £100,000-per-week. Well since then, he has played just 641 minutes for Arsenal, spending last season on loan at Fulham, currently on loan at their West London rivals Brentford.

He's appeared only nine times for the Bees, yet to start a Premier League mach, his only goal for Keith Andrews' team coming against Grimsby Town at Blundell Park in the EFL Cup. With his contract at Arsenal expiring in 2027, Nelson's market value is only depreciating week by week as he continues to largely be an unused substitute at Brentford.

Seemingly unwilling to leave London, hence why a move to Ipswich fell through before he joined Fulham, giving Nelson that bumper new contract appears to have been a mistake. Also, due to the 26-year-old's astronomically high wages, no club, London-based or otherwise, is likely to sign him permanently, meaning moving him on will once again be a problem for a third successive summer.