Exit Interviews: Reiss Nelson

Does the Hale End graduate have a role to play at Arsenal?

Exit Interviews is a series where Scott and Adam share their opinions on next steps for select Arsenal players. The series will run through early June.

Reiss Nelson is at the end of his contract and has a big decision ahead of him for where he wants to play. Should Arsenal try to convince him to extend his stay in North London?

Adam:

Ugh, another difficult decision. Reiss has been one of the more unexpected contributors this season from where I sit, looking lively when he comes on late in games and making a very quick impact with his explosiveness and play making.

The fact he’s a Hale End grad only makes it harder to potentially say goodbye to him, particularly if the club won’t recoup a fee on the back end.

Obviously the biggest concern with Reiss, the player, is health. He seems to have a hard time keeping himself on the pitch, and that could be a big hindrance to keeping him around. What Arsenal need up front more than anything for next season is some flexibility to start someone not named Bukayo Saka on the right wing.

I do think Reiss can do that, after all he scored a brace after relieving an injured Saka early in one game this season. But why hasn’t Arteta used him a bit more on the second half of the season? I’m not one of those folks who think Saka was out of form and in need of benching, but I do think Reiss could’ve taken an hour here or there off the Starboy’s back.

Was Arteta hesitant to give Reiss those minutes because he didn’t know whether he’d be back next season? Or was it because he doesn’t want a right-footer on the right wing? Or, worse yet, does he not trust him enough to start a game?

Ultimately I’d love Reiss to come back another season, so I was delighted by the reports that Arsenal are trying to sign him to a 1+1 deal. But the important element of this for me is that Arteta considers Reiss a bona fide option starting against a lower tier Premier League club the weekend after a big Champions League clash. If not, I’d just as soon sign a player that is that guy for the gaffer.

Adam’s verdict: Renew for one year (plus an option), £75,000 per week. If Nelson refuses, let him walk and sign a new winger.

Scott: I have always liked Reiss Nelson as a player, he has a high technical level and seems to be comfortable playing from either the left side or the right side. The problem for him was always that his body let him down and he missed significant portions of his early 20’s in the training room rather than on the pitch.

To date, the most league minutes he has ever played in senior competitions is the 910 he got in the Eredivisie.

This is a major red flag for me and would make me very wary of trying to do anything but an incentive-laden short-term contract for him, at Arsenal or where ever he might choose to try next.

When he has played in his career he has looked like an average to above-average player but this has come in mostly in sub appearances or Europa League and Eredivisie minutes, where you honestly hope he might look even stronger.

It is really easy to get caught up in the he is a Hale End boy and want to keep him on but I just cannot get past the lack of minutes and injury history. If this is a new ruthless standards-raising era, this will be a good test for it.

If he really wants to stay at Arsenal there is probably a team-friendly deal that works to keep him as backup/cover option over the next couple of years, to help make up numbers in the attacking midfielder section but it is also an area where the team has tried to buy new depth the last two windows. I hope his sights are set higher than the role he might get at Arsenal and that he wants to play more regularly, even if means he has to drop down a tier or two for the team he ends up signing with.

He made a great memory with his goal against Bournemouth and that will never be forgotten but it is probably best for all involved if he moves on to a new challenge.

Scott’s verdict: Let him go as a free agent/tribunal