Arsenal were quiet in terms of incomings on transfer deadline day, but they really cleared out some numbers from the squad.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock have moved out on loan to West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United respectively, whilst Shkodran Mustafi’s contract has been torn up.
The hope is that Maitland-Niles and Willock will return to Arsenal better-prepared for first-team football, as they undoubtedly need playing time.
Yet if one player should be gutted to have missed out on a January move away from the Emirates Stadium, it’s winger Reiss Nelson.
Less than a year ago, Mikel Arteta called Nelson ‘special’ having seen him shine in an FA Cup tie against Portsmouth, leaving fans to think that he would become a star under the Spaniard.
That hasn’t happened though. Nelson has played just 70 minutes of Premier League action this season across two substitute appearances; nowhere near enough for a talent of Nelson’s quality.
The 21-year-old finds himself down Arteta’s pecking order, behind the likes of Nicolas Pepe, Willian, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also featured out wide.
It looked like Nelson could go out on loan on deadline; Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg were linked, as were Villarreal and Real Betis, but the window ended with Nelson still stuck at Arsenal.
Nelson hasn’t been able to kick on since his seven goals in 23 games on loan at Hoffenheim in the 2018-19 season, and it’s hard to see where his next Arsenal opportunity is going to arrive.
Nelson has seen fellow academy graduates Maitland-Niles and Willock get their loan moves, but the same hasn’t happened for him – and he should be disappointed to still be in the Arsenal squad today rather that out on loan.
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