Reiss Nelson had been hotly tipped as an Arsenal star of the future, and the top German coach Julian Nagelsmann requested him on loan at Hoffenheim a couple of seasons ago.
He did not disappoint, scoring 7 goals in just 587 minutes of action in the Bundesliga, and on his rteurn was given a place in the Arsenal first team squad by Unai Emery for last season’s campaign.
He was in the Starting XI for Arsenal’s first two games of the season, and scored a goal in the League Cup, before cruelly sustaining a knee injury which kept him out for a couple of months. He had a couple more cameos before a hamstring injury gave him another six week lay-off, but he still managed 17 appearances under Emery and Arteta, usually as a late substitute.
This season though his progress has stalled, which was not helped by the meteoric rise of Buyako Saka and Smith-Rowe, and other than a few Europa League and Cup games, he has only been seen twice in the Premier League.
He has been thoroughly overshadowed by other Arsenal Academy graduates and now that he has reached the ripe old age of 21, I think he needs to go back out on loan to regain some confidence and form. There have been unfounded rumours that he could go to a Championship club for the rest of the season, and I for one think this is a very good idea…
What do you think?