Reiss Nelson remains the only injured Arsenal player in the men’s senior squad, but he’s back out on the training pitches.

Ahead of Arsenal’s next match against Fulham this weekend, Mikel Arteta confirmed that the only injured player in his current squad is Reiss Nelson.

Early problems for the likes of Kieran Tierney, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Emile Smith Rowe have all cleared up, leaving only Nelson as a current absentee.

The good news is that Nelson is back running again. The winger posted on his Instagram story on Thursday that he’s had his “first day on [the] pitch”, a step towards a comeback.

The early reports suggested Nelson was set to miss a couple of months with injury, so it’s good to see him back out there just a couple of weeks later.

Yet this doesn’t mean he’ll be involved in matches anytime soon. Just starting to set foot on the training pitches again doesn’t mean he’s close to making Mikel Arteta’s matchday squad.

It’s still a positive step forwards for the winger, and it suggests he could be back sooner than expected.

Speaking to the Arseblog podcast this week, James Benge suggested that Nelson was always planning to remain at Arsenal for the coming months, even before his injury.

Though there’s a sense that Arsenal would be keen to cash in, Arteta rates Nelson highly, and the player feels there will be chances for him this season.

As he’s now in the final year of his contract, Nelson may also feel he’ll get better offers on a free transfer next summer than for a transfer fee this summer.

So don’t expect a transfer for the 22-year-old this week.