It was officially confirmed today that Chris Willock has left Arsenal to join Benfica.
The talented winger will initially link up with Benfica’s B team and will have designs on establishing himself in the senior squad in due course, something which would have been incredibly difficult to achieve at Arsenal.
Willock certainly can’t be criticised for wanting to further his development elsewhere and it will be intriguing to see how he progresses in Portugal.
A player who possesses excellent close control, Willock has also started to add more goals to his game in recent years, while he has improved with regards to his strength.
For Arsenal, though, now it is time to focus on the players that are still at their disposal and one prospect who will immediately benefit from Willock’s departure is Reiss Nelson.
Like Willock, Nelson is capable of operating as an attacking midfielder or out wide, with the 17-year-old having already been guaranteed first-team opportunities next season by manager Arsene Wenger.
Nelson is an extremely exciting talent and all of the evidence suggests that the Hale End product is the standout youngster on Arsenal’s books at present, something which will hopefully become apparent to a wider audience next season if he does indeed become involved with the first-team.
There are other creative prospects to keep an eye on too, including Trae Coyle, who has now officially signed scholarship terms with Arsenal. Another player in the Willock and Nelson mould, he featured in the UEFA Youth League last season while still a schoolboy and will hope to break into the U23 squad next campaign.
Losing Willock is certainly a major disappointment for Arsenal, especially considering the amount of years they spent developing him and the potential he possesses. A starlet who trained with the first-team as a schoolboy and played for Wenger’s team in a friendly aged 16, his ability has been abundantly clear for many years.
Nelson, though, will now be looking to step into the limelight.
—
Jeorge Bird is the author of http://arsenalyouth.wordpress.com/, follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Fresh Prince of Benfica
As long as we have Malen, I don’t care.
i hope Malen makes it big, I will be happy to worry about his agent mino riaola when his banging in the goals every week.
Would love Nelson to make it at Arsenal. Last player I remember being spoken of as he is at that age was Jack Wilshere.
What a curse.
Been keeping one eye on Nelson for some time. Expect him to do well battling for us in Europe.
I just wondering why Arsenal is the only club which never put in any kind of buy back clause…
Can’t put it on a player who isn’t under contract.
Carlos Vela
Obviously disappointing from an Arsenal point of view but honestly a smart decision on his part. Young English players don’t often go to countries like Portugal and Belgium and it’ll be good for his development
Well, if Alexis leaves – Iwobi will be able to step into the limelight.
Always look at the bright side of life…
I’ll be rooting for him be interesting to have a different reason to put Nelson on one of our shirts