Reiss Nelson made his unofficial debut for Feyenoord on Wednesday, playing 45 minutes in a friendly against De Graafschap.

After a long wait, Reiss Nelson finally stepped onto the pitch for a match in a Feyenoord shirt on Wednesday, albeit a friendly match against De Graafschap.

Nelson joined Feyenoord on loan on transfer deadline day, after signing a contract extension with Arsenal. But he didn’t play a single minute for the club in his first month or so of the loan.

The winger finally began training again with Feyenoord recently, after reports of issues with the intensity of their regime and his own fitness problems. On Sunday, he made their matchday squad for the first time but remained on the bench.

In midweek, Feyenoord organised an international friendly match against De Graafschap, and that gave Nelson his first opportunity to feature on the pitch.

Nelson completed 45 minutes in what was a fairly uneventful half, before coming off at the break at 0-0. Hopefully, that’s a precursor to competitive involvement when club football returns.

Feyenoord boss Arne Slot initially confirmed that Nelson had picked up an overload injury soon after joining Feyenoord on loan. At the time, he suggested this was due to the fact the training sessions were more ‘spicy’ for Nelson at Feyenoord than Arsenal.

He later clarified that he didn’t mean Arsenal’s training sessions weren’t committed, just that Nelson wouldn’t have been training in the same way as a squad player at Arsenal versus as a potential starter at Feyenoord.