Transfer Centre

Arsenal 'offer Reiss Nelson new four-year contract'

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 24 May 2023

Arsenal reportedly offer Reiss Nelson a new four-year contract with the option of an additional 12 months after the attacker rejected two previous renewals.

Arsenal attacker Reiss Nelson has reportedly been offered a new deal by the Gunners that would tie him down to the club for the next four years.

Due to injuries and competition for attacking starts, Nelson has only played a peripheral role during the 2022-23 season but has come up with crucial contributions nonetheless.

In just 171 minutes of Premier League football, Nelson has scored three goals and set up two more, with all of those contributions coming in two games against Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.

After replacing the injured Bukayo Saka in October's showdown with the Tricky Trees, Nelson bagged a brace and provided an assist for Thomas Partey in a 5-0 mauling of Steve Cooper's side.

Following that stellar cameo appearance, Nelson was brought off the bench with Arsenal 2-1 down at home to Bournemouth in March, where he set up Ben White before picking out the far corner in the 97th minute to complete an astonishing turnaround.

Arsenal's Reiss Nelson celebrates after the match on March 4, 2023 © Reuters

Despite his heroics as a substitute, Nelson is yet to start a single Premier League game this term, and the former England Under-21 international is out of contract at the end of the season.

Multiple clubs are believed to be waiting to pounce should Nelson become a free agent, with AC Milan, West Ham United, Fulham and Brighton & Hove Albion among them.

Nelson is already believed to have rejected two renewal offers from Arsenal, but according to Fabrizio Romano, the North London club have come forward with yet another long-term contract.

With Arsenal trying to convince the attacker that his future belongs at the Emirates Stadium, Romano claims that the deal will be valid for four years with a 12-month extension option until the summer of 2028.

Nelson is yet to make a decision on his future, although he revealed last year that he was keen to stay on at his boyhood club amid interest from teams in England, France and Italy.

Arsenal's Reiss Nelson during the warm up before the match on November 3, 2022 © Reuters

The winger joined Arsenal's academy ranks in 2007 and has since recorded seven goals and seven assists in 65 games for the club, while also impressing on loan at Feyenoord and Hoffenheim.

Nelson was not present with the squad for last weekend's 1-0 loss to Forest, though, with many believing that his absence was due to his contract stand-off.

However, it was revealed that the 23-year-old had missed out due to illness, and he could be back in the fold for Sunday's season finale with Wolverhampton Wanderers, which may prove to be his last appearance in an Arsenal shirt.

While the Gunners are struggling to make headway in talks with Nelson, his compatriot Saka put pen to paper on a new four-year deal on Tuesday, only a few days after goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had committed his future to the club.

Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes have also extended their deals this season, and Arsenal are now working on renewals for captain Martin Odegaard and defender William Saliba alongside Nelson.