According to a report by Football.london, Arsenal are offering a new contract to youngster Reiss Nelson as he continues to be the subject of transfer interest from Greek side, Olympiacos. There is no confirmation if the English winger has put pen to paper but the Gunners are looking to extend his stay at the Emirates.
Nelson has already spent a season out on loan at Hoffenheim in 2018/19 and gathered impressive top-flight experience there. But since then, he has failed to become a regular under Arteta. So why are Arsenal offering a new contract to Nelson, who still has two years left on his current deal, a wise move? Let us find out.
Arsenal offering a new contract to the youngster makes the most sense when we think about the whole situation in financial terms. An improved contract means that the Gunners would have a stronger hand in any future negotiations for the player than what they would if Nelson stays on the same deal.
They could even set suitable terms of exit in the youngster’s new proposed contract that can benefit them when making any potential sale in the future, or even the present. This would help them prevent the same mistake of letting another young talent leave for a low transfer fee only for the Gunners to rue their decision later.
Perhaps the most famous example of this is Serge Gnabry leaving Arsenal in 2016 to join Werder Bremen. The then 20-year-old winger left the Emirates in a £5million move but he is not the only example of Arsenal’s past mistakes. Donyell Malen similarly left the Gunners’ academy as an 18-year-old in 2018.
He is now linked with a big-money move to Liverpool. Similarly, Ismael Bennacer left Hale End for £900,000 in 2017 but ended up joining AC Milan from Empoli for £14million just two years later. Jeff Reine-Adelaide left the Emirates for a fee of just over £1million. But Angers then sold the midfielder for £22.5million to Lyon a year later. (h/t football.london)
And the Gunners would be itching not to make that mistake with Nelson, who, as mentioned above, is already attracting interest from Olympiacos. Mikel Arteta is currently burdened with the problem regarding Eddie Nketiah’s contract, which is now in its final year.
Such a situation could force the club to sell players for a lower fee in order to avoid losing them on a free transfer. And the Gunners would be wise to avoid Nelson’s situation to come to this. Of course, there is also the chance of the youngster making progress and finding himself as a regular starter at the Emirates.
The Daily Mail report that Mikel Arteta is after Jesus Corona of FC Porto as Willian has failed to meet expectations. The Brazilian turns 33 next month, and if Arteta wants competition, Nelson could well be the man and the club would not even need to look into the transfer market for that position.
Gabriel Martinelli on the left and Pepe on the right are perhaps the only options Arsenal have instead of Willian, to man the wings. Of course, there is also the talented Bukayo Saka who can play on either flank but if Nelson persists and is patient, he can find himself getting more game time under Arteta.
If not that, then the Gunners could sell him for a fee they would think is right, which can be tough to negotiate on his current contract. Another season where he doesn’t feature regularly would plummet Nelson into the last year of his deal and the Gunners could then lose him on the cheap.
Hence, a new contract makes sense in both aspects for the Premier League side – as a way of keeping a young talent at the club with hopes of making him into a first-team player, and if that fails, then selling him for a fee that is closer to whatever their valuation is.
