Speaking on his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand has been discussing Reiss Nelson and the hype that surrounded the winger as a youngster.
Nelson was, for a long time, seen as the next big thing at Arsenal, and Ferdinand says that he would often be asked about Nelson in the street when he was incredibly young.
As a product of south London’s brimming football scene, Nelson made his name at an incredibly young age, and Ferdinand says that this is a player who has been on his radar for the longest time.
Ferdinand discussed how Nelson was the talk of the town when he was a kid, stating that he’d often be questioned about his abilities when he was growing up.
Nelson’s potential
Ferdinand discussed how Nelson was viewed as a youngster.
“As a kid he was always talked about as being the boy. Shoutout Reiss Nelson. The streets know he was the name that was going around, you had him and Jadon around those times, people were saying ‘do you know Reiss from Arsenal the boy from south London?’” Ferdinand said.
“The thing is he can’t allow this to be just another moment, this has to become the norm being relied upon in the Arsenal setup, he has to be the guy if Saka or Martinelli aren’t fit or if they’re out of form and then he’s pushing to be a starter, because his potential as a kid, that’s what he’s meant to be.”
Raw talent
If you’re making huge waves at that sort of age then you have to have a huge element of raw talent at your disposal.
Nelson certainly has that. He’s quick, he’s skilful and his technique is second-to-none.
All he needs is a bit of fine-tuning and the correct coaching and he can become a star, and we saw the first real inkling of that at the weekend against Forest.
If Mikel Arteta can work his magic, Nelson could yet be a key player for Arsenal.
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