Arsenal winger Reiss Nelson has closed the door on a potential January transfer exit amid reported interest from overseas. The 24-year-old insists that his ‘heart’ remains in north London, despite manager Mikel Arteta sending a clear message by using him sparingly in the Premier League this season.
The six appearances Nelson has managed in the league this term have all come off the substitutes’ bench, amounting to a meagre 62 minutes of action in total. His only starts across all competitions have come in the Carabao Cup, and the 1-1 Champions League dead rubber against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday night.
Now a senior professional in his mid-twenties, regular game time will be moving up Nelson’s priority list as time goes on. The wide man regularly made the starting XI during a loan spell at Hoffenheim, with whom he scored seven Bundesliga goals as a youngster.
Feyenoord also took him on loan the season before last, and the Dutch outfit are rumoured to be eyeing up another swoop for Nelson in the hope that he could be swayed by the promise of frequent action.
But Arteta boosted Nelson’s morale by giving him almost the full 90 minutes against PSV, and the player subsequently admitted that he has no plans to jump ship. “I have a good relationship with the [Feyenoord] coach [Arne Slot],” he told RTL after the match.
“I helped them a few years ago and that was a great time. I was able to develop really well. [But] I have signed a new contract with Arsenal, this is where my heart is at the moment.”
Arteta’s selection habits should send a clear message to Nelson – that he is a long way down the pecking order in the hunt for minutes out wide. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka are the undisputed starting duo, with Leandro Trossard often Arteta’s first port of call from the bench.
Nelson is under contract at the Emirates Stadium until 2027, and although he was given a chance to impress against PSV, there were others who were left disappointed. Academy prospects Lino Sousa, Ethan Nwaneri and Reuell Walters all travelled with the senior side, but Arteta explained after the game why none of them made it onto the pitch.
“I don’t think it was the right context,” he explained. “Making eight changes already to throw them in there against a team that hasn’t lost here in almost two years, I didn’t think it was the right moment.
“I went on to wait to see how the game developed, but it was too much for them and as well we have three little issues, we had to make the subs and then we had no room because we really wanted to play a game as well.”
