More than three clubs wanted to sign Reiss Nelson on loan over the summer, but Arsenal turned down the offers so they could keep him instead.

Arsenal's English midfielder Reiss Nelson (L) celebrates with Arsenal's English defender Ben White (R) after scoring their second goal during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium in London on October 30, 2022. (Photo by IAN KINGTON/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s English midfielder Reiss Nelson (L) celebrates with Arsenal’s English defender Ben White (R) after scoring their second goal during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium in London on October 30, 2022. (Photo by IAN KINGTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Fabrizio Romano reported for CaughtOffside that more than three clubs made enquiries over a loan for Reiss Nelson in the summer, but Arsenal decided to hang onto the winger.

Mikel Arteta was reportedly very happy with Nelson’s approach to training, and it now appears he can be a really important player in Arsenal’s squad rotation.

With two goals and an assist, Nelson put Nottingham Forest to the sword in Bukayo Saka’s absence and fired Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League at the end of October.

The whole thing was somewhat surprising, as most fans didn’t even expect Nelson to come on. Arsenal had Fabio Vieira and Marquinhos on the bench, and Nelson hasn’t even been playing regularly in the Europa League lately.

Yet Arteta called on Nelson, who returned his manager’s faith by putting in his best Arsenal performance for a long while.

“Not only me, but all his team-mates, all the staff are so happy for him because he is a kid that is really changing, he’s really evolving, he’s really maturing,” Arteta said afterwards.

“He’s showing every day how much he wants it and today he had the opportunity, and he did extremely well because it helped us win the game.”

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Arsenal’s English midfielder Reiss Nelson applauds at the end of the UEFA Europa League Group A football match between Arsenal and Bodoe/Glimt at The Arsenal Stadium in London, on October 6, 2022. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Nelson certainly appears to be a popular player in the Arsenal squad, based on the post-match reaction to his performance.

Aaron Ramsdale posted on his Instagram story that he was “so happy for this kid”, along with a picture of an embrace between himself and Nelson.

William Saliba posted a picture of Nelson along with a goat emoji, and Saka posted “Reissyyyy” along with a couple of emojis with stars in their eyes.

Nelson even got some love from former teammates currently further afield, with Jadon Sancho posting “my brother!”, Joe Willock posting “love you bro”, and Nuno Tavares tweeting “Reiss Nelson…show them” along with heart emojis.

Nelson has now played in seven games this season with two goals and two assists in just 316 minutes.