If there’s any Arsenal player who the supporters want to succeed, it’s Reiss Nelson.
The 23-year-old is a local lad who progressed through the academy in recent years.
And even when it looked like his once-promising Arsenal career might be over, after Mikel Arteta loaned him to the Netherlands last year, Nelson bounced back to stay with the senior side this season.
Then in October, the jet-heeled winger scored two Premier League goals out of nowhere to put himself firmly back in the picture under Arteta.
But sadly, it was another false dawn.
Nelson picked up an injury in the friendly defeat by Juventus last week and now the Spanish manager has revealed that he is ‘out for a while’.
He told Football London: “With Reiss, unfortunately he picked an injury against Juventus and he’s going to be out for a while I think. I’m talking weeks not days. He will be out for a few weeks. Let’s see how he reacts in the next few days. He felt something straight away and with sprinters that’s not a good sign.”
This is a heartbreaking development for the youngster.
Having worked so hard during the summer to earn a second chance at Arsenal, and after scoring that double in October to put himself on the right track again, getting injured before the Premier League starts up again is just rotten luck.
At 23, Nelson is at the point where he really needs regular football to continue his development.
But now it remains to be seen when he’s even going to be fit again, though going by Arteta’s comments, it may not be soon.
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