It was confirmed today that Reiss Nelson has signed his first professional contract with Arsenal, but, in truth, the news came as no surprise, with the 17-year-old undoubtedly one of the finest young talents amongst the club’s ranks at present.
The facts speak for themselves. Nelson is still effectively a first-year, yet he is already one of the most important members of the Arsenal U23 side, whilst he has trained with the first-team on several occasions and is highly rated by Arsene Wenger, who could well give the prospect his senior debut at some point next season.
Although he is usually deployed as a winger, Nelson is also capable of operating as an attacking midfielder, but, wherever he plays, the England youth international usually makes a significant impact on proceedings.
Possessing excellent close control, impressive speed and the ability to finish neatly, Nelson is a very difficult players for opposing defenders to deal with. The youngster has also become noticeably stronger in recent months, while he is also able to contribute defensively by closing down players and winning the ball back.
With players such as Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Chris Willock ahead of him in the pecking order at present, Nelson’s breakthrough into the first-team won’t be an instant transition, but the signs certainly suggest that he will at least become increasingly involved with the senior squad from next season onwards.
On the whole this has been a hugely positive campaign for Nelson so far, but there was a setback last week when he was sent off as Arsenal U18s were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup by Blackburn Rovers.
Nelson, though, has pledged to learn from that experience and it appears that his overall development is very much on track.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Congratulations to him. It’s down to you now fella, make it work!
From the few times I have seen him play he does look a cut above. Looks to me like he is on a higher wavelength than anyone else on the pitch. But he is another one of those who plays too many positions and we need to nail him down to one or two.
All those coming through now are the same and i hope it doesnt go against them as there some exciting talents there.
He’s already proven himself as a Navy Captain and Battle strategist, this will be his biggest test yet.
Its rarely a straight path with development. Some seasons past Zelalem was rated to come through early. We now see Maitland Niles pushing into the first team from nowhere. But that doesn’t mean anything either as bOTH players are still young. In fact, you don’t really come good till closer to 23yrs. In that sense, Bellerin is a rarity and Chambers still holds plenty of promise. Wenger has had better success introducing players from academy in recent seasons with Bellerin, Iwobi and of course Coquelin . In part this is due to the experience now found throughout the team so… Read more »
Best young talent we have, in my humble opinion.
Off topic: MCFC! (No, not that lot, get your mind out of the gutter.) Merry Christmas Fellow Gooners!
He looks a talent for sure, only reservation I have is actually kicking the ball. Sounds weird, but no one that comes up through the youth ranks seems to be able to long range pass/ shoot, curl or power the ball. Except maybe Connor Henderson but that didn’t work out. Still despite all this I hope him Chris and Eddie the best.