Reiss Nelson says Arsene Wenger is planning a ‘bright future’ for him, Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock, as the academy trio continue to edge closer to the first team.
Nelson recently revealed that he’s hopeful he can sign a contract extension to stay at Arsenal ‘soon’. That would make him the third of the 18-year-olds to do so this season, with Nketiah and Willock both already committing their future to the club.
The winger made his first Premier League start last weekend, and says he just needs to follow Wenger’s advice right now.
“The boss [Wenger] is the man in charge and I have just got to do what he says,” he said. “If I keep training hard and if I get the opportunity to play, I will play well and we will take it from there.
“He is one of the biggest influences for me – he keeps pushing the youngsters – me, Eddie (Nketiah) and Joe (Willock) – I think he has got a bright future planned for us. I think a first-team start in the Premier League at a high level like this is a step forward.”
So how have each of the trio performed so far this season?
Reiss Nelson
- Age: 18
- Position: Forward
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 670 minutes
Reiss Nelson has already had more first-team chances at Arsenal than anybody else currently in his age group. As well as nine substitute appearances, he also has six starts this campaign.
In fact, he’s one of few players to play in every single competition in 2017/18, including the Community Shield.
Before the weekend, it seemed like Nelson’s chances were starting to dry up, as Arsenal reached the business end of the season. He only played seven minutes of senior football in three months after his FA Cup start.
Clearly that started to get to him, as we saw from his reaction to Wenger choosing not to bring him on against Watford.
He kept working hard though, scoring in each of his u23 appearances in February and March. Eventually that led to his first league start against Southampton, and hopefully there are more to come.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 10
- Goals: 8
- Assists: 2
Eddie Nketiah
- Age: 18
- Position: Striker
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 117 minutes
- Senior goals: 2
In my opinion, Nketiah is the player who is most deserving of more opportunities. He has been fantastic up front for the academy for years, and had a home debut that lived up to his wildest dreams.
Despite that, he’s still only just managed senior minutes equivalent to just over one match. Wenger has named him on the bench and left him there 13 times this season, compared to the eight times he has entered the fray.
Whenever Nketiah drops down to the youth teams for a game, he delivers. He has seven goals in six matches since that Norwich debut in October. The fact those are the only matches he’s started is the problem.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang isn’t an easy man to displace in the starting eleven. Plus, Danny Welbeck and Alexandre Lacazette are both back and fit. Even if it’s from the bench though, Nketiah needs to get some games in the final part of the season.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 12
- Goals: 10
- Assists: 2
Joe Willock
- Age: 18
- Position: Central-midfielder
- Senior game-time 2017/18: 434 minutes
Joe Willock is another player who got a couple of opportunities earlier in the season, and has gone from strength to strength with the academy since then.
In fact he has four assists in his last two Premier League 2 matches. He also captained the side against Everton in February.
Plus, earlier this week the youngster helped the u23s to a win against Villarreal to send the team through to the Premier League International Cup final.
Considering Wenger is generally resting Ramsey for the Europa League matches, and Granit Xhaka is ill right now, there’s a possibility Willock could get a chance this weekend. There seems little point risking midfielders by playing them twice in a few days. Willock could easily fill in.
Premier League 2 stats 2017/18
- Appearances: 11
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 5