According to Independent, Arsenal have tabled a £55 million plus Reiss Nelson bid in an attempt to sign Wilfried Zaha. Another £10 million add-ons will be offered while Nelson would be loaned out to Palace as a temporary replacement for the Ivorian winger.
Palace, however, have rejected any possibility of this deal taking place. Instead, they want the Gunners to increase their fee as well as offer one of their young players on a permanent deal if they are to land Zaha this summer.
That means Nelson does qualify as one of those players who Arsenal could ship to Selhurst Park. But, this could be a huge blunder from Unai Emery’s part.
Nelson’s fantastic spell in the Bundesliga
Nelson joined Hoffenheim on a season-long loan deal last summer in search of regular game time. And after a slow start to the season, the youngster became a prominent part of Die Kraichgauer attack during the Bundesliga Ruckrunde 2019.
The 19-year-old built a formidable offensive partnership with the likes of Andrej Kramaric and Joelinton that saw Hoffenheim end the campaign as the third highest-scoring team in the league. He was involved in eight goals in 23 matches and looked set to follow in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho. However, the youngster has returned to Arsenal following the end of his loan spell.
Why Nelson’s stay at Arsenal could be beneficial for the Gunners
Nelson’s blistering performances in the Bundesliga was enough to suggest that the young winger is ready to take on the mantle of regular first-team football in the biggest leagues of Europe. Hence, it would perhaps be wiser for Emery to keep hold of the talented attacker next season and for good reasons.
Firstly, Arsenal have never really managed to secure a proper replacement for Alexis Sanchez following his move to Manchester United at the start of last year. As a result, the Gunners have lacked the dynamic presence on the flanks, with the likes of Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan struggling with lack of consistency.
But most importantly, Emery, himself, has found it challenging to secure the services of a quality winger due to the club’s budget restraints this summer. And even if they do manage to sign someone like Zaha, they will likely have to sanction the sale of one of their star players, which is a risk in itself.
Nelson, to that end, could be considered as a backup plan should their pursuit of players like Zaha or Nicolas Pepe fail. Besides, the likes of Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah have shown a lot of promise before the start of this new season. And these young players could potentially allow Emery to usher in a new era at Arsenal within the coming years, at least in the attacking department.
