In somewhat unusual circumstances, Reiss Nelson has extended his time at Arsenal by signing a new five year deal.
His old contract expired on June 30th, meaning he was a free agent for some days, but today the club officially announced the extension for the 23 year old winger.
Nelson has come through the Hale End Academy to be part of the first team, although it’s fair to say he hasn’t fully established himself due to injuries and loan spells.
However, he did have a positive impact last season, albeit from the bench, with goals against Nottingham Forest and that unforgettable strike against Bournemouth.
Speaking to the official site, he reflected on his decision to put pen to paper at Arsenal when he could have gone elsewhere with greater assurances of first team football – citing the big step forward the team took in the previous campaign and his desire to play his role going forward.
“It’s just the way we played last season,” he said.
“I’ve been here for many years, I’ve been here the good years and bad years, and last year especially, I’ve seen the rise that Arsenal have taken. Taking them to new heights and I feel like I want to be part of the journey.
“I want to be part of us going to the next level, which I think the boss, Edu, the backroom staff and the new players and the current players are making.
“So it was a train I really didn’t want to miss and I want to be here for it, so I’m glad that I made the right decision.”
Nelson also reflected on the ups and downs of his career so far, but feels like he’s ready to really push his teammates for more involvement in the years ahead.
“I had two massive injuries last season that kept me out for a number of games,” he said, ” probably around up to 17 games, which is crazy when you think about it.
“When I did get the time or the opportunity to showcase myself, I needed to take it and I was waiting a long, long time, but I felt like there were moments in the last season that I did that.
“Like I said, I was just delighted to get the opportunity and for me, it’s just about how many more steps can I take to keep pushing and keep making it hard for the boss to make a decision for the starting eleven.”
“I’m kind of lost for words If I’m honest. I’ve been here since I was eight, I’m 23 now. It’s been a hell of a journey, and I’m just so happy.
“My family are Arsenal supporters, so that makes it even happier. I’m just really happy and I can’t wait to get started for the new season.”
I’ll never forget Bournemouth, screaming REISS!!!!! at the top of my lungs. Lets hope he can stay fit and start showcasing the talent we all know he possesses.
You’d think a moment like that might be tarnished by us not going on to win the league.
But it really hasn’t. One of the greatest moments in the Emirates, regardless of the meta narrative.
100% for me, it was the moment when I truly felt that the joy was back at Arsenal after soo many years of pain and disarray.
So true! It was really a special moment.
Amen to that brother. One of my other highlights of the season was also against Bournemouth in the reverse fixture – the breakout of the “da da dad da dad da dada Saliba” chant – both of these moments felt like a turning point for the stadium atmosphere in general, and the realisation that as supporters we all have our part to play in positive outcomes for the team… Arteta saw this from the start and we saw in the Amazon doc how he introduced the Louis Dunford song pre kick off – that still sends shivers down my spine… Read more »
I watched that match at the Arsenal pub in Vancouver, Canada, at an ungodly hour in the morning. We screamed so loudly when that goal went in, people off the street were poking their heads in to take pictures of us. One of my favourite moments in over fifty years of being a Gooner.
Reiss really gives off nothing but a genuine good vybe. Recommend watching the live interview. Hoping he can convince Arteta enough to trust with more minutes and resting Saka more.
It’s always felt like Arteta was open to being convinced, just been so unlucky with injuries.
Haaland, Mbappe, Saka, Martinelli etc have really skewed footballer aged (I guess Cesc started that for us), but 23 is still so young.
I’ve a sneaky feeling he’ll get a lot of minutes this year.
Good for Reiss.
Nice to see an Arsenal youth team product getting an opportunity at his boyhood club.
Loyalty like this should always be rewarded.
100% true Gunner 👍👍👍 I love you Reiss!!
Well done young man loyal guy who just wants to prove himself, good luck.
Wish him all the best, he’s got a good attitude. People like him you don’t want them to fail.
So far, I’ve seen nothing to get excited about when it comes to him.
Getting Nelson to sign a new contract is good for the club because it gives him some value now. But there’s nothing about his game that makes me think he’ll do anything special at the club.
My prediction is that he’ll be sold within two years along with our special number 14, Nketiah.
At least we’ll make a few quid.
Wow this is a miserable take on it. Try find some joy Fats. Reiss deffo found me some of that last season.
Good on you Reiss, looking forward to seeing you shine bro.
If you’ve not seen anything to get excited about, you’ve clearly not been paying attention. But I think you might be right about the two year thing though. Although that’s just business
Wow just wow, imagine someone like you in charge of these kids futures. This kid needs to be on the pitch, not looking at it.
Scaling new heights of miserableness in a single bound.
Nelson is a very good winger coming off the left side of the field, in fact he and Trossard are the two of our forwards who don’t take long to make good decisions. I hope the three (JMS) could learn that aspect of the game from them.
Saka’s decision making is still good. Can’t say that about Martinelli and Jesus though. They have a habit of often passing to each other even if others are freer
Nelson nketiah saka in the front three, ESR at 10
Please Mikel atleast for one game _/\_ .
Yes!
On the day when Xhaka leaves, having completed his turnaround, this could be the launch of Reiss Nelson’s turnaround, establishing himself in the team as a true academy product and the star we hoped he would be when he was turning heads as a teen.
Good stuff, hopefully he can kick on now he is fully recovered.
Would love to see more games where Saka torches the opposition for 70 mins then Reiss comes in to give them a new problem for 20 mins.
This is great news. So many people forget that he was the original Starboy. The talent is surely there. Arteta should start trusting him more. He can be very able Saka cover.
Positional cover maybe, but they are very different players. I think Nelson’s turn of pace to get round the outside of the fullback is something different that Arsenal can use to change things around in games. Here’s hoping.
I’m so routing for this guy, hoping he gets the game time next season. Could be a total breakthrough and I’m looking forward to it.
Very happy for Reiss to stay with us, Miki’s no mug when he sees potential and rewarding him a long contract shows his belief, hopefully after all his injuries he can push on to become the player who apparently in the Arsenal youth set up with the likes of Saka, Willock, ESR, Nketiah he was the most likely player to come through to our 1st team, with Rice & Timber coming in lets get Salibas contract sorted, remove the squad Surplus and i think we are good to go next season
Kid loves it. Bags of talent. Won’t whinge, won’t moan and he has a goal or two in him. He may even be a late bloomer and surprise is all (to blossom enough to displace Saka would be one hell of a spring.) But I think I quite like the fact he wants to be here and there’s no way Arteta sanction the extension if there was a footballing and cultural benefit.
So happy about this news. Super talented player, made an impact with most of his appearances last season…. and Arsenal to the core!
A squad with players with this mentality is bound to succeed- Recognising that it’s an invaluable role to keep pushing the current first-team players to play their best, and ready to step up whenever needed. Well done Reiss !
I think the thing I love most about this signing is that our best teams always had their starters but there were always players like Kanu, Wiltord or Reyes in the Invincibles season for example that provided that quality and depth. I see Reese and Emile as players that can provide the same quality in depth that we’ll need going forward even if they’re not quite Saka and Odegaard